Hochbaum lab
Harvard Medical School
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
full stack neurobiology
· we study molecular programs that shape cognition, behavior, and disease
· we harness them to predict human health & behavior, and design treatments for neurological disorders
current focus
· our current work centers on circulating factors (i.e. hormones)— produced by organs throughout the body, influenced by environment & somatic state, and readily measured in human bio-samples— that enter the brain, impact myriad cell types to tune neural circuits and shape cognition/behavior, and are dysregulated in common brain disorders. Importantly, modulating hormone levels (insulin, GLP-1, thyroid hormone, among others) have led to successful treatments for many diseases of modernity, from diabetes to depression. Our current work spans:
synchronizing brain & body
Hormones are sentinels of the environment and of the physiological state of organs throughout the body. We ask how hormones sculpt neural circuits to coordinate behavior with the needs of the body and demands of the environment, and how these processes go awry in disease.
latest publications
Current Biology, 35, 999-1004, 2025.
DR Hochbaum †∙ BL Sabatini â€
DR Hochbaum ∙ L Hulshof * ∙ A Urke * ∙ W Wang * ∙ AC Dubinsky * ∙ HC Farnsworth ∙ R Hakim ∙ S Lin ∙ G Kleinberg ∙ K Robertson ∙ C Park ∙ A Solberg ∙ Y Yang ∙ C Baynard ∙ NM Nadaf ∙ CC Beron ∙ AE Girasole ∙ L Chantranupong ∙ MD Cortopassi ∙ S Prouty ∙ L Geistlinger ∙ AS Banks ∙ TS Scanlan ∙ SR Datta ∙ ME Greenberg ∙ GL Boulting ∙ EZ Macosko ∙ BL Sabatini â€
Cell, 187, 1–19, 2024.
RI Lawton ∙ BL Sabatini †∙ DR Hochbaum â€