Welcome to the HAYES Lab

Mission Statement

Cultivate observant scientists that explore the mysteries of brain development and neuro-immune influences that impact human health.

Main Question

How does microglia activation impact brain development, function, and risk for neurodevelopmental and neurologic disorders?

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Microglia are the primary brain immune cells and perform many functions that impact both normal cognitive health and disease-associated neuroinflammation. Infiltration of microglia occurs early in brain development and these cells are maintained throughout life. The continual adaptations of microglia to environmental cues and accumulation of stress exposures across life implicate them in both developmental and degenerative disorders. Microglia are highly influential cells in the brain microenvironment and a promising target for disease mechanisms, but there remains a critical gap in knowledge for how microglia are specialized and regulated before we can develop targeted therapeutics to specific microglia activation states depending on the clinical pathology. Understanding the basic biology of microglia patterning and reactivity can provide valuable insights into disease mechanisms.

The main research questions are:

1. How do microglia respond and recover from immune activation?
2. How does previous activation exposure shape future reactivity?
3. How do heterogeneous microglia activation states impact human disease?

Find more details about the lab philosophy, ongoing projects, and publications. Find out more about me and my teaching and mentoring experiences here.

We are looking for passionate and curious trainees to join the team (more info)!