Gary Yellen Laboratory at Harvard Neurobiology - Ion Channels - Metabolism - Ketogenic Diet - KATP - excitability - glycolysis - fluorescent biosensors

HMS Neurobiology

Contact Us | Harvard University

• Home
• Research Interests
  • Neuronal Metabolism
    and Excitability
  • Fluorescent Biosensors
  • Moving Parts of Channels
• Publications
• Lab Members
• Resources

Research in the Yellen lab is focused in two main areas:

For a long time we have worked on understanding the "moving parts" of ion channels, which are the membrane proteins that control electrical excitability in neurons. Beyond their basic interest, these studies have implications for the interaction of therapeutic drugs with ion channels.

More recently, we are studying the relationship between neuronal metabolism and excitability, with the ultimate goal of improving epilepsy treatment. For this work, we are developing a series of fluorescent biosensors to monitor the levels of key metabolic molecules in living cells.