Tomomi Karigo

Tomomi Karigo, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at the Kennedy Krieger Institute, affiliated with the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her research focuses on the neural circuit mechanisms underlying the development of social behaviors, particularly during adolescence and puberty. She is affiliated with the Neuroscience Training Program and the Biochemistry, Cellular and Molecular Biology Graduate Program at Johns Hopkins.

The Karigo lab investigates how neural circuits controlling social behaviors develop during puberty and how stressful environments impact brain development. Her research integrates systems, cognitive, and computational neuroscience to understand developmental neuroscience and the neurobiology of disease, with implications for psychiatric disorders such as social phobia, aggression, and anxiety.

Her recent publications reveal a strong focus on hypothalamic control of social and sexual behaviors, neural representations in social networks, and vocal communication in rodents. Using cutting-edge techniques like in vivo neural recording, optogenetics, and automated behavior tracking, her work spans molecular, circuit, and behavioral levels. Trends in her research show an increasing integration of computational tools for behavioral analysis, including machine learning and open datasets.

While no specific scientific awards are listed in the provided text, her work has been published in top-tier journals such as Cell, Nature, and eLife, indicating significant recognition in the neuroscience community.

Dr. Karigo mentors students and collaborates extensively, as evidenced by her co-authorship on numerous high-impact studies. Her lab develops advanced tools like the Mouse Action Recognition System (MARS) and contributes to large-scale behavioral datasets, supporting open science and collaborative research. She is actively involved in training through graduate programs at Johns Hopkins.

The Karigo Lab is based at the Kennedy Krieger Institute in Baltimore, MD, where it operates as a dynamic research team using rodent models to study social behavior circuits. The lab emphasizes interdisciplinary approaches, combining neuroscience, engineering, and data science to decode complex behaviors and their neural underpinnings.