Trevor Sorrells

Trevor Sorrells is an Assistant Professor of Genetics at Yale School of Medicine with additional appointments in the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program, Molecular Cell Biology, Genetics and Development, Neuroscience Track, Wu Tsai Institute, and Yale Combined Program in the Biological and Biomedical Sciences (BBS). He is also a member of the Janeway Society.

• B.S. in Biology from Stanford University (2009)
• Ph.D. from University of California, San Francisco (2016)
• Postdoctoral Fellow at Rockefeller University (2022)

Sorrells' research focuses on understanding the neural circuits that control mosquito biting behavior and how this behavior evolved from non-biting ancestors. His work combines neurobiology, genetics, and evolutionary biology with specialized expertise in optogenetics and genomic approaches. His lab employs innovative techniques to study mosquito vectors as disease carriers, particularly examining sensory systems that drive host-seeking behavior.

Sorrells' publications reveal a research trajectory that began with studying transcriptional network evolution in non-model yeast species during his PhD, then transitioned to neural circuit analysis of mosquito behavior during his postdoc, and now focuses on the evolutionary origins of biting behavior. His work spans molecular genetics, systems neuroscience, and evolutionary biology with particular emphasis on gene regulatory networks, behavioral neuroscience, and vector biology.

• HHMI Freeman Hrabowski Scholar (2023)
• NIAID New Innovator Award (2023)
• Bohmfalk Scholar (2023)
• Polak Young Investigator Award (2022)
• Harold M. Weintraub Award (2016)

Sorrells maintains active collaborations across Yale's neuroscience and genetics communities and has secured significant early-career funding that supports his innovative research program. His work bridges basic science with potential applications in vector control and disease prevention. The Sorrells Lab (accessible through their website) serves as a hub for interdisciplinary research that brings together molecular genetics, neuroscience, and evolutionary biology approaches.

The lab utilizes advanced techniques including optogenetics to study mosquito brain function, comparative genomics to understand evolutionary changes, and behavioral assays to characterize host-seeking mechanisms. Their research has implications for understanding how disease vectors evolved to target humans and could inform novel approaches to vector control.