Venkatesh Murthy

Venkatesh Murthy serves as the Raymond Leo Erikson Life Sciences Professor of Molecular & Cellular Biology at Harvard University and co-directs the Harvard Brain Science Initiative. His laboratory is housed within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences at Harvard's Biological Laboratories in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

His research investigates the neural and algorithmic basis of odor-guided behaviors in terrestrial animals, primarily using mouse models. The Murthy Lab develops naturalistic behavioral paradigms that enable simultaneous electrophysiological recordings, high-resolution optical imaging, and optogenetic manipulation. Key research areas include neural circuit dynamics in the olfactory system, modification of circuits through behavioral state and learning, and development of computational models to explain neural observations. The lab maintains strong interdisciplinary collaborations with theoretical neuroscientists.

Recent publications (2023-2025) reveal consistent focus on olfactory navigation mechanisms, neural signal processing algorithms, circuit-level analysis of social behaviors, and biomimetic applications for electronic sensing systems. Work spans experimental techniques including multi-animal pose estimation (using DeepLabCut), neural deconvolution methods, and analysis of fluctuating odor environments.

The Murthy Lab operates within Harvard's Department of Molecular & Cellular Biology as part of the broader Harvard Brain Science Initiative ecosystem, contributing to research in Cognitive and Behavioral Neuroscience, Theory and Computation, and Sensory and Motor Systems.