The gut-brain axis is the bi-directional communication pathway between the gastrointestinal tract and the brain. This axis consists of key brain regions (including the brainstem and hypothalamus), the gut’s highly specialized enteroendocrine cells that secrete hormones, and the autonomic nervous system (the vagus nerve and the enteric nervous system). These systems work in unison to regulate many aspects of human health and physiology. At Kallyope, a New York City-based biotechnology company, Justine Kupferberg and her team focus on the complex interplay between these systems in order to discover new therapies to treat the diseases that emerge from gut-brain axis dysfunction, including obesity, diabetes, NASH, inflammatory disorders, depression, autism, and Parkinson's disease. Kupferberg's team uses single-cell sequencing, computational biology, circuit tracing, and neural imaging to deepen their understanding of the gut-brain axis in health and disease and develop transformative therapies for diseases with high unmet need.
Pizza lunch will be served.