Circadian rhythmicity is a fundamental aspect of temporal organization in essentially every cell in the body, and modulates much of physiology, biochemistry, and behavior.  In order to maintain daily cycles, cell-autonomous circadian oscillators drive rhythmic expression of approximately 5-10% of mRNAs to ultimately drive a wide range of rhythmic biological processes. Disruption of the circadian clock can have a severe influence on human health, ranging from psychiatric disorders, obesity, cardiovascular diseases, to certain types of cancer.

We are interested in understanding 1) how the circadian clock regulates the rhythms of thousands of mRNAs and proteins with the correct period, phase, and amplitude; and 2) how circadian clock utilizes rhythmically expressed proteins to regulate rhythmic physiology and behavior.  We use the mouse as an animal model system and integrate diverse approaches – genetics, genomics, bioinformatics, neuroscience, molecular/cellular biology, and sometimes mathematical modeling – to answer these questions.