Brandeis University · BiologyThe Insect Behavior Lab
Paul Garrity · Waltham, Massachusetts
Research Focus
Dr. Paul Garrity's lab at Brandeis University studies how insects detect sugars and regulate their behaviors through internal clocks. They explore molecular mechanisms in fruit flies and mosquitoes, focusing on how sensory receptors work and how circadian rhythms affect feeding patterns. This research is important not just for understanding insect biology, but also for finding ways to control disease transmission by mosquitoes.
sugar detectioncircadian rhythmsthermotaxisgustatory receptorsDrosophila geneticsmosquito behaviorneuroscienceinsect physiologydisease vectorsunderstanding thermoregulation
Research Aims
3AIM 01Investigate the mechanisms of sugar receptor sensitivity and specificity in Drosophila.
AIM 02Identify the molecular clock mechanisms in vector mosquitoes related to feeding behavior.
AIM 03Understand how Drosophila larvae integrate internal and external temperature inputs for thermoregulation.
Skills the Lab Values
molecular geneticsDrosophila handlingprotein purificationcryo-electron microscopybehavioral assaysgene editingimmunohistochemistrybioinformaticstransgenic organism creationscRNA-seq analysis
Output against the department
Publications162top 41% of dept.425th of 1,033
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations9.1ktop 42% of dept.429th of 1,033
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.