My group is interested in mapping neural circuits mediating behaviors, particularly those related to the higher brain functions, in the fruit flies. Our topics cover behaviors of both individuals and groups, ranging from drinking, feeding, learning and memory to courtship, aggression and sociality. We routinely utilize interdisciplinary approaches including neurogenetics, optogenetics, brain imaging, electrophysiology, quantitative behavioral analysis, and machine vision. Additionally, we are interested in applying what we learned from the tiny flies to solve problems in other organisms (such as human and robots).

Although it would be a long way to go, we designed our research specifically to accelerate the accomplishments of the following goals:

• to eat without getting fat
• to be smart without studying
• to love without being hurt
• to compete without being defeated
• to be alone without feeling lonely

• PhD in Molecular Cell Biology, Washington University in St. Louis, 2003
• Postdoctoral Scholar, HHMI and UCLA, 2003-2009
• Principal Investigator, State Key Lab of Brain and Cognitive Science, Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2009-
• Professor, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, 2015-