Catherine Dulac

We’re excited to share the full dataset and analysis pipeline with the community. 6/6

Together, these data show that the brain, like the immune system, generates modular, pathogen-specific responses, not a single generic “sickness” program. 5/6

A 940-gene MERFISH atlas by @moffittlab.bsky.social revealed cell-type-specific immune responses in POA and PVN neurons and glia, including condition-specific interferon-stimulated genes, chemokines, and neuropeptides. 4/6

Whole-brain FOS imaging showed that each challenge produces a distinct neural activity pattern. Machine learning could classify sickness states using only these brain-wide signatures. 3/6

We find that sickness is not a generic state: using five immune challenges modeling bacterial, viral, parasitic, allergic, and colitis inflammation, we uncovered unique behavioral and physiological signatures for each state. 2/6

I am thrilled to share our latest work led by @zurisullivan.bsky.social in collaboration with @moffittlab.bsky.social ! We find that the brain encodes distinct, pathogen-specific sickness states across behavior, physiology, neural activity, and gene expression 1/6

www.biorxiv.org/content/10.6...

MCB Scientists Help Reveal Structure of Cancer-Linked DNA Damage in Science Study - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology A long-standing mystery in microbiome research—how a gut-bacterial toxin physically damages human DNA—has finally been solved through a close collaboration led in part by researchers in the Victoria [...

MCB Scientists Help Reveal Structure of Cancer-Linked DNA Damage in Science Study 🧪 🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd #research
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @hekstralab.bsky.social

super interesting story, congrats!

Spotlight: Ashley Johnson Brings a Student-Centered Vision and a Scientist’s Heart to MCB - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology When Ashley Johnson stepped into the role of Interim Program Administrator for the Molecular and Cellular Biology (MCB) and Chemical and Physical Biology (CPB) concentrations this past May, […]

Spotlight: Ashley Johnson Brings a Student-Centered Vision and a Scientist’s Heart to MCB 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @rivaselenarivas.bsky.social @hekstralab.bsky.social

Australia just recorded zero cervical cancer cases in women under 25 for the first time since records began in 1982. The amazing result of HPV vaccination.

Very cool!...

Congratulations to my wonderful colleague Nao Uchida @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social now Jeff C. Tarr Professor! 👏🤩🧠🎉

Great story by @carlzimmer.com in @nytimes.com that nicely conveys the excitement for the emerging field of interoception. @dulaclab.bsky.social and others are featured, including my tattoo 😳!

Gift article link: www.nytimes.com/2025/11/25/s...

Congratulations to all the young stars recognized, but a special shout out to my new colleague, the amazing @sueyeonchung.bsky.social!

Rising junior and senior undergrads: this is a terrific opportunity for a 9 weeks summer internship as a Cech Fellow in an HHMI lab: deadline for applications is December 22!

Assistant Professor in Biology and Neuroscience Program - Waltham, Massachusetts (US) job with Brandeis University | 12848464 The Department of Biology and the Program in Neuroscience at Brandeis University invite applications for a tenure-track Assistant Professor positio...

Re-upping this - Neuropeeps! We have a TT Job in my wonderful department at Brandeis! First consideration to applications received by Dec 15 (but why wait?)

www.nature.com/naturecareer...

Dear friends, colleagues, Harvard community and beyond: this is the season to help individuals and families in need, and the needs this year are very high! Please repost and contribute to this effort with 🥫or 💰 donations 🙏 🙏🙏
@harvardmcb.bsky.social @harvard.edu @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social

Rebecka Sepela Receives L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology MCB postdoctoral fellow Rebecka Sepela has been selected as one of the 2025 L’Oréal USA For Women in Science (FWIS) Fellows, a prestigious honor recognizing early-career scientists whose […]

Rebecka Sepela Receives L’Oréal USA For Women in Science Fellowship 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n...
@nbellono.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social

No one knows the answer, and that’s the point — Harvard Gazette “Genuinely Hard Problems” pilots novel approach to scientific education.

An remarkable new undergraduate course conceived and taught by our amazing colleague and Dean of Science Jeff Lichtman: "Genuinely Hard Problems" I wish I was an undergrad again!... 🤣🧪🧬🧠
@harvardmcb.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @harvard.edu

news.harvard.edu/gazette/stor...

Who is ‘fedora man’? Dapper French teenager in viral Louvre heist photo unmasked Fifteen-year-old Pedro Elias Garzon Delvaux was captured looking suave in a picture outside the Paris museum on the day of a crown jewels heist

The very improbable story of a Hercule Poirot fan in Paris 🤣
www.theguardian.com/world/2025/n...

En français!.... magnifique 👏😜

I wrote some reflections this afternoon about how the discovery of the double helix changed the course of science. Gift link: nyti.ms/4qPS3y6

This week, we published in @science.org an article outlining the current ethical and societal implications of research involving human neural #organoids and #assembloids, their transplantation, and highlighted potential next steps.

Trees lining a road, the ones on the left have largely shed their leaves and the ones on the right still bear their beautiful fall foliage.

Asymmetric fall foliage. (Divinity Ave, Cambridge MA).

MCB Researchers Highlighted in Nature Publication Series - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Researchers from the Brain Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) will release an extraordinary series of 16 manuscripts in Nature on November 5.. This collection, made possible by large […]

MCB Researchers Highlighted in Nature Publication Series 🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @dulaclab.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @harvardbrainsci.bsky.social @nature.com @harriskaplan.bsky.social

More powerful tools for understanding the brain. 🧠🔍

Today, comprehensive, cross-species developing brain cell atlases were released to help advance health and disease research. 🧵

#studyBRAIN #BICAN

Community Building with Intercultural Communication Workshop - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology MCB’s Assistant Director of Human Resources and Community Task Force (CTF) administrator, Julia Fannon, invites all members of the MCB community to take part in the upcoming “Community […]

Community Building with Intercultural Communication Workshop #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @zombiflied.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @rivaselenarivas.bsky.social @harvard.edu

A New Colorful Method for Nanoscale Imaging Harnesses Electron-induced Light - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology Making molecules light up at the nanoscale is key to understanding how biomolecules are organized within cells and how their interactions shape cellular function. While luminescent protein tags […]

A New Colorful Method for Nanoscale Imaging Harnesses Electron-induced Light #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @sohaibar.bsky.social @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @neurovenki.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social @cryptogenomicon.bsky.social

TT faculty job opening in #Neuroscience!
We are looking for a colleague to join us in our fantastic Biology Department and Neuroscience Program at Brandeis. We are a group of *very* collaborative, supportive, and productive scientists (& humans!) so please apply
academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/30961

Interested in a Summer in Japan? Learn More at the Reischauer Institute Information Session on November 5 - Harvard University - Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology As students start planning for the summer ahead, the Edwin O. Reischauer Institute of Japanese Studies (RIJS) invites Harvard undergraduate students to an upcoming information session on two […]

Interested in a Summer in Japan? Learn More at the Reischauer Institute Information Session on November 5🧠 🧪🧬 #AcademicSky #higherEd
www.mcb.harvard.edu/department/n... @rachellegaudet.bsky.social @naoshigeuchida.bsky.social @microbiometcell.bsky.social @dulaclab.bsky.social