Michael Crickmore

Michael Crickmore is a Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and a researcher at the F.M. Kirby Neurobiology Center at Boston Children's Hospital. His work focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying motivational states and decision-making processes using Drosophila melanogaster as a model system.

Dr. Crickmore completed his graduate work at Columbia University with Richard Mann and conducted postdoctoral research at The Rockefeller University with Leslie Vosshall. His research has been recognized with prestigious awards including The Harold Weintraub Graduate Student Award, a Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship, and the 2009 Grand Prize Winner of the GE & Science Prize for Young Life Sciences.

Dr. Crickmore's laboratory investigates how motivational states are generated and regulated in the brain. His team has made significant discoveries about neural circuits controlling mating drive, identifying specific dopaminergic and GABAergic neurons with opposing influences on motivational states. His work combines neurogenetic approaches with advanced imaging to understand how internal states influence behavior, providing insights into fundamental mechanisms conserved across species including humans.

His recent publications reveal how dopamine biases decisions by limiting temporal integration and how molecular mechanisms match decision-making to motivational states, with implications for understanding disorders like ADHD, depression, schizophrenia, and addiction.

Dr. Crickmore's scientific contributions include numerous publications in high-impact journals:

• The Harold Weintraub Graduate Student Award
• Helen Hay Whitney Postdoctoral Fellowship
• 2009 Grand Prize Winner of the GE & Science Prize for Young Life Sciences

As a principal investigator, Dr. Crickmore mentors graduate students and postdoctoral fellows in his laboratory at the Neurology Research department. His research is supported by grants from major neuroscience funding agencies, though specific grant details are not provided in the available information.

Dr. Crickmore's laboratory is part of the vibrant neuroscience community at Boston Children's Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where his team employs a multidisciplinary approach combining genetics, imaging, and behavioral analysis to study the neural basis of motivation and decision-making.