Haijiang Cai

Haijiang Cai is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Arizona. His research focuses on neural circuit mechanisms underlying eating and emotional behaviors, including fear, anxiety, and depression. He employs multidisciplinary approaches such as optogenetics, in vivo calcium imaging, and behavioral assays to study comorbidities between eating disorders and emotional disturbances. Key projects include investigating interactions between eating and emotion circuits in the central extended amygdala, gut-brain communication pathways, and neural circuits in genetic disorders like Prader-Willi Syndrome.

Dr. Cai’s educational background includes a B.S. from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC, 2001), a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (USC, 2007), and postdoctoral training at Caltech (2008–2015). He teaches courses such as Systems Neuroscience and Complex Behavioral Disorders, and oversees a lab with postdocs, graduate students, and undergraduates. His lab has contributed to understanding how CeA and BNST neurons regulate anorexia and obesity-related behaviors, with findings highlighted in media outlets like the New York Times and BBC.

His research emphasizes translational applications, including developing neural circuit-based therapies for eating and mood disorders. The lab uses cutting-edge technologies like wireless neural photometry and micro-endoscopy to study dynamic brain activity in freely moving animals.