I am a PhD student in the Provencio lab. Our research centers on the photopigment melanopsin. In mammals, melanopsin is found in a subset of ganglion cells in the retina. Melanopsin is activated by light, thereby making the melanopsin-expressing cells (mRGCs or ipRGCs) intrinsically photosensitive. IpRGCs therefore constitute a class of photoreceptor cell, like the rods and cones. While the rods and cones are the primary photoreceptors for image formation, several features of the melanopsin-expressing cells make them more suitable for general irradiance detection, a function important for photic regulation of a variety of behaviors and physiological parameters, such as the entrainment of circadian rhythms, modulation of heart rate, sleep induction, regulation of melatonin levels, and pupil constriction. Melanopsin-expressing cells work together with the rods and cones to regulate these properties, and likely others whose link to photoreception remains to be elucidated.

My research is concerned with the chain of events from melanopsin activation to physiological output, beginn-ing with the molecular events occurring during photon capture and signal transduction, to downstream neural pathways, to the ultimate effects on behavior and physiology.