Michael O'Donnell

I am an assistant professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology at Yale University. I studied developmental neuroscience in Drosophila at the University of Pennsylvania with Greg Bashaw before moving to Brandeis University working with Piali Sengupta. Our lab is broadly interested in understanding how microbes impact the behavior of host animals. We primarily use an animal host — the roundworm C. elegans, which feeds on bacteria — in combination with its natural gut microbiome to identify inter-organismal signals driving host-microbe interactions and decision-making. Feeding decisions and social behaviors rely on the integration of external and internal chemical signals, some of which are directly or indirectly influenced by microbial metabolites. We apply genetic and chemical approaches to identify and manipulate the production of these natural products, and determine the effects of these compounds on the behavior and physiology of animal hosts.