How the Gut and Nervous System Control the Spread of Infection

Viral infection often starts at a barrier tissue, such as the lungs, gut, or skin, before quickly spreading through the body. This project will investigate how local infection, in this case via the gut, propagates to the nervous system and results in different cellular behaviors or responses organism-wide. The team will use single-cell sequencing, whole-organism live imaging, and advanced cellular recording systems to understand the progression of inflammation after viral infections across time and space.