MCDB News

Hormone levels fluctuate like the tides, ebbing and flowing according to carefully orchestrated cycles. These hormones not only influence the body, but can cross into the brain and shape the behavior of our neurons and cognitive processes.

Fruit fly larvae will reorient themselves toward the negative pole of an electric field.
 

The advent of immunotherapy has changed the way we treat cancer. But current techniques can only benefit some patients, and fare poorly against solid tumors. Cellular biologist Meghan Morrissey at UC Santa Barbara is working to change that by focusing on macrophages, a type of innate immune cell.

Morrissey’s group is working to harness macrophage immune cells for novel cancer therapies.
 

If a male mosquito can’t hear a female, it’s as though she doesn’t exist.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has selected Professor Denise Montell for a Pioneer Award to further develop her work on the innovative immune therapy.

UC Santa Barbara neuroscientists have reconstructed the entire anterior visual pathway of a fruit fly, a complex series of neural connections between the insect’s eyes and the navigation center of its brain.

While a mosquito bite is often no more than a temporary bother, in many parts of the world it can be scary.

Priming macrophage immune cells could supercharge certain cancer therapies.
 

“My ultimate goal is to understand how the brain processes visual information and generates navigational commands to move,” he said.