Haluk Lacin, Ph.D., decided to join the UMKC faculty based on his interactions with researchers and staff, and the possibility of departmental collaboration. His research focuses on neural circuit formation and animal behavior.
What brought you to UMKC?
The main reason that attracted me to UMKC is its collegiality. Everyone I interacted with at UMKC during my visits was easily approachable and put in extra effort to be helpful.
Recent changes bringing the School of Biological and Chemical Sciences together with the School of Computing and Engineering into the School of Science and Engineering will be very useful for me and other biologists who want to bring quantitative approaches to their field. Lastly, the school has become a vibrant place for research and teaching with the hiring of several new investigators in recent years.
What is the focus of your research?
In a nutshell, my research aims to understand how a complex nervous system is built during development. Each neural stem cell generates a unique population of neurons, which we call neuronal lineages. In our nervous system, neurons from millions of distinct neuronal lineages interact with one another to form functional networks. Each network - called a neuronal circuit - controls a unique human behavior, e.g., decoding visual information coming from the eyes or commanding quadriceps muscles for kicking a soccer ball. My research investigates how each neuronal lineage is generated and how they come together to form neuronal circuits controlling vital behaviors.
To address these questions, I study the assembly of the nerve cord (equivalent to our spinal cord) of the humble fruit fly, Drosophila. Similar to our spinal cord, the fly nerve cord shows lineage-based organization, but with neuronal lineages whose number is reduced by several magnitudes. In total, 34 distinct neuronal lineages form the fly nerve cord. Over the years, I have generated genetic handles to target and study individual neuronal lineages and with these tools, I have started elucidating the genetic, cellular and molecular control of neuronal connectivity and animal behavior.
What are your research priorities?
I recently have been awarded a research project grant from the National Institute of Health. First, we will investigate how a select group of genes dictate the neuronal lineages where these genes are expressed to form functionally meaningful neuronal circuits. Second, we will investigate how these neuronal lineages control animal behavior, i.e., are they required for walking or flying? We will also study how the removal of each of these genes from individual lineages where they are expressed affects the animal behavior. Lastly, we will complete the missing pieces in our genetic library with which we can target each neuronal lineage individually in the fly nerve cord.
What are you hoping to accomplish with this research?
Millions of people in the U.S. suffer from at least one neurological disease, many of which arise from perturbations in neuronal differentiation and/or circuit formation. Our research leverages the powerful fly genetic model system to uncover the cellular, developmental and genetic basis of neuronal differentiation, neural circuit formation and behavior. Given the highly conserved nature of nervous system development from flies to humans, our research aims to uncover conserved genetic principles that underlie neural circuit formation and behavior from flies to humans, which will inform on the cellular, developmental and genetic basis of neurological diseases in humans.
How involved are research assistants in your work?
I have been working together with a team of talented research assistants and my work would not be at its current level without their input. We have had opportunities to learn from one another. What I observed from my experiences is that working with others results in creativity, innovation, and most importantly better engagement.