Joe is currently a postdoctoral research fellow in Dr. Venkatesh Murthy’s laboratory in the Department of Molecular & Cellular biology at Harvard University. His research interests involve understanding the mechanisms by which environmental sensory information are encoded by the central nervous system. Toward this, he is working on two projects. First, he is using optical-based methods to understand how olfactory stimuli are transmitted to the brain via specialized cells known as olfactory receptor neurons. Secondly, he is studying the integration of adult-born neurons into existing neural circuits within the olfactory bulb.
Prior to joining Dr. Murthy’s group at Harvard, Joe received a B.S. in neuroscience at the University of Michigan and subsequently a Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Colorado Medical School where he primarily used electrophysiological methods to study the unique circuit properties of the olfactory bulb glomeruli.