Lauryn Hornstein
I joined the Khoshbouei lab in January 2023. My research project focuses on the effect of dopamine neuron activity on peripheral immunophenotype. To test the hypothesis that 1) Dopamine neurons can modulate peripheral immunity via the midbrain to DVC to celiac ganglia to spleen circuit, 2) Dopamine transporter on immune cells affects immune function. I use AAV tracing, bone marrow chimeras, and excitatory and inhibitory DREADDS to address this hypothesis.