Immune–brain interactions controlling affective behavior

Tuesday, March 24th, 2026, 4:00pm, Pinn Hall 1005

Michael Wheeler, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at Harvard. His lab investigates how immune system interactions with the nervous system influence behavior, inflammation, and tissue plasticity in the brain and peripheral organs. Their research focuses on immune and nervous system bidirectional communication, encoding neuroimmune signals in the brain, and immunotherapies targeting behavior.

The Wheeler Lab integrates molecular immunology with systems neuroscience using single-cell and spatial genomics, behavioral phenotyping, and synthetic biology to uncover fundamental principles of neuroimmune crosstalk that drive both disease and therapeutic responses.