Catherine Dulac

Catherine Dulac is the Samuel W. Morris University Professor at Harvard University and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. She is a faculty member in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology within the Faculty of Arts and Sciences. Her laboratory, located in the Biological Labs at 16 Divinity Avenue, Cambridge, MA, focuses on the molecular and neuronal basis of instinctive social behaviors in mice.

Dr. Dulac's research explores how molecular, genetic, and electrophysiological mechanisms underlie social behaviors such as aggression, mating, parental care, and defensive responses. Her work addresses fundamental questions about sensory signal processing, brain region involvement, and the molecular identity of neurons within social behavior circuits. She employs advanced techniques including in vivo imaging, single-cell transcriptomics, and optogenetics to investigate neural circuit architecture and function.

Her laboratory's publications reveal a strong focus on neural circuit mapping, particularly in hypothalamic regions controlling social behaviors. Recent work has examined brain aging at single-cell resolution, hypothalamic circuits for social homeostasis, neuronal populations regulating sickness responses, and genomic imprinting in mammalian brains. Her research consistently bridges molecular, cellular, and systems neuroscience to provide comprehensive insights into social behavior mechanisms.

• Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator
• Samuel W. Morris University Professor at Harvard University

Dr. Dulac teaches MCB 125 (Molecular Basis of Behavior) and MCB 344 (Molecular and Developmental Neurobiology) at Harvard. Her research is supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute and likely receives additional funding from NIH and other agencies. While specific advisees aren't listed in available information, her laboratory website would contain details about current and former students.

The Dulac Lab maintains an active research program with several ongoing projects investigating neural basis of social behaviors. Current directions include examining social representation in the medial amygdala, studying circuits underlying parental behavior, and investigating genomic imprinting in the brain using a multidisciplinary approach that combines molecular biology, genetics, electrophysiology, and advanced imaging techniques in awake, behaving mice.