From the Lab to the Limelight - Blog version of our #TraineeTuesday Twitter series

This #TraineeTuesday, please welcome Yichen Luo, PhD, an INP alum from the Carlson Lab! This year, he finished his thesis, won the 2023 INP Thesis Prize, started his postdoc, and even got married! Let's explore Yichen's research journey as he embarks on new adventures.

For his thesis, Yichen studied how fruit flies detect pheromones, which play a crucial role in insect communication. He discovered that certain pheromone receptors in flies are sensitive to pheromones from multiple species and influence courtship behaviors. This research can be applied to developing species-specific insect traps for agricultural pests or disease vectors.

Yichen’s fascination with animal diversity began in childhood, through visits to paleontology museums. He wondered: How could animals adapt to environments as different as the Cambrian sea and Anthropocene concrete jungles?

As an undergraduate at Peking University, Yichen joined the lab of Yulong Li, PhD, fueling his passions further. When his undergraduate mentor introduced him to Dr. John Carlson’s pioneering work on chemoreception, Yichen knew he wanted to join Yale’s Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program.

In 2017, when Yichen first rotated in the Carlson Lab, he was tasked with solving a technical problem that had bothered the lab for years. After struggling with it for a few months, he hit a point where he decided to move on to other projects. But the problem lingered in his mind. After his first paper was published, he revisited the issue, and, after several months of work, finally cracked it. “The sense of accomplishment and sharing the news with my labmates made it one of the best experiences of my life,” he said.

Yichen found his research experience at Yale to be “exceptionally rewarding.”

“I received invaluable support from my mentor, John Carlson, as well as other faculty members associated with the INP, Charlie, Jamie, Elena and Damon. They provided guidance not only on scientific matters but also on navigating the challenges of graduate life,” he said.

Now as a postdoc at the University of Washington, Yichen is diving into proprioception: "the enigmatic sixth sense" animals use to perceive their body's position and movement. He plans to explore how animals regulate proprioception across different behavioral states.

Ultimately, Yichen aspires to one day become a professor, to continue his research and mentor the next generation of scientists.