Our focus is to understand how the nervous system controls behavior and responds to changes in its environment.
How does the microbiome affect neuronal function and behavior?
![Worm Microbiome](/globalassets/alkema-lab/images/microbiome-combined.png)
The human microbiome is composed of hundreds of different species of bacteria and can have a profound impact on diverse physiological processes, but unraveling the underlying mechanisms is a major challenge in humans due to the complexity of the nervous system and the diversity of microbial fauna present in the gut.
Using C. elegans as a model we can begin to address these questions in a meaningful way.
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What is the interaction between different stress responses?
![Worm Stress](/globalassets/alkema-lab/images/stressworm.png)