Past Visitors and Projects

Projects listed in chronological order

• Assigning Internal Energies to Unfolded, Single-Stranded RNA and DNA
  SEPTEMBER 1, 2006 - JUNE 30, 2007
  VISITOR: Michael Zuker (professor, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)
  HOST: Sean Eddy (group leader)
  PROJECT SUMMARY: This project brought Michael Zuker to do a one-year sabbatical with Sean Eddy. They collaborated on software to analyze and predict RNA structure from primary sequence.
• High Order Control of Behavior in Drosophila
  DECEMBER 20, 2006 - DECEMBER 19, 2007
  VISITOR: Michael Dickinson (Professor of Bioengineering, California Institute of Technology)
  HOST: Michael Reiser (fellow)
  PROJECT SUMMARY: Michael Dickinson came to Janelia to collaborate with Michael Reiser and others to develop behavioral assays for Drosophila. While the initial intention was to develop a system to track a walking fly (and this was done), new research objectives developed, such as the use of nano-fabricated microelectrodes, and these have evolved into a new project in collaboration with James Truman.
• Studies on the Larval Nervous System of Drosophila
  APRIL 22, 2006 - JUNE 3, 2007
  VISITOR: Marta Zlatic (junior research fellow at Trinity College, University of Cambridge, now working at Columbia University with Wes Grueber)
  HOST: Julie Simpson (group leader)
  PROJECT SUMMARY: Marta Zlatic's project brought her to Janelia to collaborate with Julie Simpson for six weeks. Their focus was to use assays for larval behavior with genetic reagents available in Simpson's lab to map circuits. Janelia fellow Rex Kerr contributed his expertise to provide automated methods for tracking the movement of larvae under a variety of conditions. This pilot project was successful and will be repeated and enlarged in the next year.
• The Role of Sniffing for the Processing of Olfactory Information in Rat Mitral Cells
  JUNE 1, 2006 - NOVEMBER 30, 2007
  VISITOR: Matt Wachowiak (Assistant professor of biology, Boston University)
  HOST: Dmitry Rinberg (fellow)
  PROJECT SUMMARY: This project brought Matt Wachowiak and his student Dan Wesson to Janelia, Wachowiak for two one-week periods and Wesson for six months. Wesson worked intensively with Rinberg to develop a head fixed assay for sniffing behavior in the rat.
• Image Processing for Registering Fly Brains and Tracing Neurons in Sparsely Sained 3-D Stacks
  AUGUST 20, 2007 - DECEMBER 20, 2007
  VISITOR: Sven Rahmann (group leader in the AG Genominformatik, Technische Fakultät, at the Universität Bielefeld)
  HOST: Gene Myers (group leader)
  PROJECT SUMMARY: Sven Rahmann came to work with Gene Myers' group at Janelia to develop software for the analysis of neural structure in the fly.
• Mapping Neuropile Foci Using Lineage-Based Approaches in Drosophila
  OCTOBER 1, 2007 - DECEMBER 31, 2007
  VISITOR: Volker Hartenstein (professor of molecular, cell and developmental biology, University of California, Los Angeles)
  HOST: Gene Myers (group leader)
  PROJECT SUMMARY: Volker Hartenstein and his wife and co-worker, Amelia Younossi-Hartenstein, spent a three-month sabbatical at Janelia Farm working with Gene Myers and others. Their focus was on the use of lineage tracing to develop a systematic understanding of the large-scale structure of the fly brain. This project was very successful and Hartenstein is preparing a proposal to continue this work.
• Understanding Circuit Computations Underlying Drosophila Larval Chemotaxis
  OCTOBER 1, 2007 - DECEMBER 31, 2007
  VISITOR: Matthieu Louis (junior group leader, Center for Genomic Regulation, Barcelona, Spain)
  HOST: Vivek Jayaraman (fellow)
  PROJECT SUMMARY: This proposal brought Matthieu Louis to Janelia for twelve weeks to work with Vivek Jayaraman to study circuits involved in larval locomotion and odor tracking. The visit was very productive and a continuation of this effort is now being planned.