Current Lab Members
Guillaume (Will) de Lartigue, PhD
Principal Investigator
gdelartigue@monell.org
Will received his PhD from the University of Liverpool in the UK, in Professor Graham Dockray’s lab, where his passion for studying gut-brain signaling was ignited. Following postdoctoral studies in sensory neuroscience with Prof. Dockray and Prof. Helen Raybould at UC Davis, Will was awarded a K99/R00 “Transition to Independence” grant from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases of the National Institutes of Health. He’s held positions at the John B. Pierce Laboratory/Yale University Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and the University of Florida Department of Pharmacodynamics. He is currently an Associate Professor at the Monell Chemical Senses Center in Philadelphia, with a joint appointment with the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Dr. de Lartigue has received many awards and honors for his work, including the Alan N. Epstein Award from the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior, Burgen Prize from Academia Europaea, and the Acta Physiologica award from the Scandinavian Physiological Society. He serves on the advisory boards of Bariatek and multiple academic journals. He is currently the elected Treasurer of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior (SSIB), and co-Chair of the SSIB Diversity Committee.
Alan received his B.S. in Biological Sciences from the Catholic University of Salvador and his Master’s degree in Health Biotechnology and Investigative Medicine from the Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz), also in Salvador. He earned his Ph.D. from the Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG), where he worked in Dr. Gustavo Menezes’s lab, examining the role of liver immune cells in sterile liver injury caused by acetaminophen overdose. Alan’s research interests encompass liver neurobiology, the vagal axis connecting liver and brain functions, and the liver’s role in regulating food intake.
Gabriel received his undergraduate degree from the Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais in Brazil and his PhD from University College Cork in Ireland. His PhD work focused on the study of circadian rhythms, stress and the gut microbiota and he will continue these studies during his postdoctoral work in the de Lartigue lab.
Rebeca received her B.S. in Pharmaceutical Biochemistry and MSc. in Biochemistry from the University of Mexico (UNAM). She earned her Ph.D. from the same university, studying the hypothalamic mechanisms regulating circadian rhythms in Prof. Ruud Buijs’ lab. She is interested in understanding the circadian regulation of the gut-brain axis and the role of impaired body-brain communication in metabolic disease.
Ming received her B.S. in Clinical Pharmacy from Xuzhou Medical University in 2016 and her M.S. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University at Buffalo in 2019. She joined Dr. Guillaume de Lartigue’s lab in 2020 as a PhD student, focusing on understanding the functional roles of nutrient-responsive hippocampal neurons in feeding behavior, and was awarded her PhD in 2025. She has remained in the lab to continue her research as a postdoc.
Avnika received her B.S. in biophysics and biochemistry from Miami University. Her Ph.D. studies were completed at Yale University in Dr Candice Paulsen’s lab studying molecular mechanisms of Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channel regulation and disease pathogenesis. In the de Lartigue lab she’ll be applying her understanding of these channels to disseminating their potential role in vagal neurons in the gut.
Jasmine undertook an undergraduate degree at the University of Miami, while working as an undergraduate research assistant with the Miami Project to Cure Paralysis and as a Wellness Program Assistant at the University of Miami. Following a 2-year position as a Research Technician at Johns Hopkins Medicine, Jasmine joined the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine’s PhD program. Following a rotation in the de Lartigue lab, Jasmine has happily decided to join us for her PhD.
Isadora received her B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Florida in 2022, where she was a research technician for two years in Dr. Guillaume de Lartigue’s lab using genetic tools to activate meal sensitive hindbrain neurons and prevent hyperphagia in obese mice. At Penn, she continues to research gut-brain axis communication and its role in bariatric surgery treatments for obesity. Outside of lab, she enjoys playing boardgames, baking, learning Spanish and spending quality time with friends and family.
Jane earned her PhD at the University of Liverpool in the UK, studying phosphoinositide regulation of endocytosis in mammalian cells, and then pursued postdoctoral research in Prof. Jon Scholey’s lab at UC Davis. In 2010, she left the lab and ran her own freelance science writing business for over a decade. She is now applying the skills she has developed as scientist, business owner, and writer to the day-to-day management of the de Lartigue lab.
Hongdong is a lecturer at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology. He was awarded a Bachelor of Food Science and Engineering from Quingdao University in 2011, followed by a PhD in Food Science from China Agricultural University in Beijing in 2019. Hongdong’s research interests mainly focus on how dietary protein regulates appetite and metabolic diseases via gut-brain circuits.
Laryssa undertook her undergraduate degree at Salgado de Oliveira University in Brazil and was an undergraduate research assistant at the Molecular Endocrinology Lab in the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro. She previously worked in the Alhadeff lab here at Monell exploring taste signaling in the hindbrain in relation to AgRP neurons and investigating how AgRP neurons impact mesolimbic dopamine release. She has now joined us in the de Lartigue lab to lead a project examining how gut serotonin regulates systemic physiology and behavior via vagal signaling.
Lucas received his BA in Cognitive Science and Biopsychology, Cognition, and Neuroscience from the University of Michigan, undertaking an honors thesis project in Dr Kent Berridge’s lab. Lucas is pursuing his PhD through the UPenn Neuroscience Graduate Group. He’s currently splitting his time between the de Lartigue and Bolding labs at Monell, studying the role of nutrient-responsive piriform cortex neurons in odor-nutrient association.
Lab Alumni
Iboro Umana, MD, PhD
Former Postdoctoral Researcher
Currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Emory Healthcare in Atlanta, GA
ibycu21@gmail.com
Arashdeep Singh, PhD
Former Postdoctoral Researcher
Currently a Project Manager and Scientist at Research Diets in New Jersey
Molly McDougle, PhD
Former PhD Student
Currently a postdoctoral scholar in the Rinamen lab at Florida State University in Talahassee
Danielle Quinn, MD
Former Research Assistant
Currently a Psychiatry Resident at Emory University School of Medicine
Hillary Ellis
Former Research Technician
Currently Manager of the Research Vivarium at Monell Chemical Senses Center
hellis@monell.org
Calyn Maske, PhD
Former Postdoctoral Researcher
Currently Senior Medical Writer at DynaMedex
Macarena Vergara, PhD
Former Postdoctoral Researcher
Currently a Senior Research Associate at Oregon Health and Science University in Portland, OR.
Yoko Wang, PhD
Former PhD Student
Currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Missouri
Niousha Ahmari, PhD
Former Postdoctoral Scholar
Currently a postdoctoral scholar at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital
Charlene Diepenbroek-Barker, PhD
Former Postdoctoral Scholar
Currently an Academic Teacher/Advisor at the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands
Current/Past Visiting Scientists
Iboro Umana (January 2024-January 2025); Gastroenterology Fellow at Penn Medicine
Eric Hohmann (March 2024-present); Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich
Myunghwan (Mark) Choi, PhD (July 2023- February 2024); Associate Professor of Biological Sciences at Seoul National University
Vincent Paillé, PhD (2022-2023); Research Scientist at CRCN INRAE in Nantes, France
Wanqing Jiang (Summer 2023); PhD Student in the Trapp lab at University College London
Dan Brierly, PhD (Summer 2019); Senior Research Fellow at University College London
Naila Haq, PhD (2016-2019); Research Associate at Kings College London
Current/Past Undergraduate Students
Seth Anderson (2016-17); Currently a Research Assistant in the Manguso lab at Harvard
Anabelle Pan (2016-17); Currently attending medical school at Johns Hopkins
Ben Zollinger (2016-17); Currently attending medical school at Georgetown University
Nick DeWalt (2017-18); Currently attending medical school at Columbia University
Gabriel Leme (2019-20); Currently attending medical school
Nick Schwartz (2019-20); Currently attending medical school at Nova Southeastern University
Shelby Luckey (2019-21); Currently attending medical school at the University of Central Florida
Katelyn Rourk (2019-21); Currently attending medical school at the Mayo Clinic Alix School of Medicine
Pia Nair (2020-22); Currently finishing her senior thesis with Dr Burke at the University of Florida
Bianca Parra (2020-22); Currently finishing her senior thesis with Dr Burke at the University of Florida
Mahdi Fawaz (2021-22)
Alejandro Garay (2021-22)
Shahmeer Kazi (2021-22)
Duru Izzetoglu (Summer 2024); Currently studying for a BSc in Chemical Engineering at Villanova University
MSAP Students
The de Lartigue lab is proud to support the Monell Science Apprenticeship Program (MSAP), a paid summer internship program for Philadelphia area high school and undergraduate students, designed to stimulate interest in biomedical sciences of medicine as careers, particularly among groups typically underrepresented in science and economically disadvantaged students.
2025
Marc Fremont
Northeast High School
Temple University
2024
Mustafa Elabd
Julia R. Masterman Secondary School
2023
Emmanuel Gitu
Springfield High School
Mayssam Mohamed
Northeast High School
de Lartigue Lab 