Kay Tye

Kay Tye, PhD is a Professor at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in the Systems Neurobiology Laboratory. She holds the Wylie Vale Chair and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. Her research focuses on understanding the neural circuits underlying emotion, motivation, and social behavior. Tye employs advanced techniques like optogenetics to dissect circuits in the amygdala and limbic system, linking them to behaviors like fear, reward-seeking, and social interaction. Her work has revealed how distinct neural pathways govern positive and negative valence, informing treatments for anxiety, addiction, and mood disorders.

Education:

• Bachelor of Science in Brain and Cognitive Sciences, MIT
• PhD in Neuroscience, University of California, San Francisco

Research Interests:

Tye’s lab explores social homeostasis, the neural basis of stress responses, and how social isolation impacts behavior and addiction. Her work bridges molecular, circuit, and behavioral levels, using multidisciplinary approaches to map how circuits encode valence and drive adaptive behavior. Recent studies include identifying how social exclusion amplifies pain perception and uncovering cortical circuits governing social competition.

Awards & Honors:

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator (2021)
• Blavatnik National Award for Young Scientists (2021)
• NIH Director’s Pioneer Award (2017)
• Technology Review’s 'Top 35 Innovators Under 35' (2014)

Grants & Advising:

Tye leads a lab with a focus on mentorship, emphasizing collaborative environments and trainee development. Her lab has pioneered technologies like AlphaTracker for behavioral analysis and developed novel optogenetic methods to study neural circuits.

Labs & Teams:

Her lab at Salk integrates physiology, genetics, and imaging to study social behavior and emotional processing. Collaborations span addiction neuroscience, stress biology, and translational approaches to mental health.