Meg Younger

Meg Younger is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Boston University, with an affiliated appointment in Biomedical Engineering. She leads the Younger Lab, which focuses on understanding mosquito olfaction, particularly how Aedes aegypti mosquitoes detect and encode human odors to locate hosts for blood meals. This research aims to reduce mosquito-borne diseases by uncovering mechanisms underlying biting behavior.

Dr. Younger holds a BS in Neural Science from New York University and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco. Her work integrates cutting-edge techniques, including CRISPR-based gene editing, functional imaging, electrophysiology, and electron microscopy to study mosquito neural circuits.

Research interests center on olfactory neuroscience in non-model species, with a focus on chemosensory systems, neural coding, and the evolution of sensory-driven behaviors. Her lab’s interdisciplinary approach bridges basic science and applied strategies to combat mosquito-borne diseases.

Awards:

• Klingenstein-Simons Fellowship Award in Neuroscience (2022)
• Searle Scholar

Teaching: Sensory Neurobiology (BI520/NE520) in Fall 2022.

Labs/Teams: The Younger Lab at Boston University, specializing in mosquito neurobiology and chemosensory systems.