We are so excited to welcome this week’s WiSE Wednesday honoree, neurobiologist Leslie Vosshall to CSHL today, and this short bio should give you a “sense” of why. Born in Switzerland, she bounced between Columbia University (B.A. and postdoc) and Rockefeller University (Ph.D), where she currently heads the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior. She is best known for her discovery and characterization of insect olfactory receptors. Her lab uses a multi-disciplinary approach to answer questions about the relationships between smells and behavior. While much of her initial work was done on the versatile Drosophila (fruit fly), she has recently expanded her work to study olfaction in mosquitos and even humans. Tomorrow, in her McClintock seminar, “Neurobiology of the World¹s Most Dangerous Animal,” Leslie will tell us about her work on how mosquitos choose their host – hopefully we’ll get an answer to that age-old question: are some people really more prone to mosquito bites? Leslie’s work has implications for combatting mosquito-borne diseases that pose a great global health threat. We smell a winner!
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