Hi, my name is Léo Michel and I am excited to join Johannes Larsch’s lab as a postdoc.

After graduating from a Bachelor in Lyon (France) with a major in physiology. I then devoted my studies toward marine organisms. I had a growing interest over brain evolution and so I enrolled in the Marine Biology master in Sorbonne University. I then conducted my PhD entitled “Evolution of habenular subdomain organization in gnathostome”. I have worked under the supervision of Sylvie Mazan in Banyuls-sur-Mer. My PhD work mostly focused on understanding the asymmetric organization of the habenula in a broad vertebrate sampling, and more specifically in the catshark, a chondrichthyan fish (don’t picture JAW, it’s more like TOOTH).

While I had learnt a lot regarding brain evolution in the vertebrate taxa, I was equally eager to learn more about functional aspects. I decided to join the laboratory of Manuel Mameli in Lausanne as a post-doctoral fellow to gain more knowledge and know-how about circuits, behavior, states and disease. Bridging a brain structure that I was familiar with : the lateral habenula. My project in Lausanne aimed at understanding the contribution of non-neuronal cells to specific behavioral outcomes and focus especially on the encoding of aversion when mice are exposed to threats and the balance between active coping and passive coping state.

I am now happy to join the lab of Johannes Larsch where I plan to gain knowledge about social aspects of the brain in the zebrafish model. A model organism that I would like to pursue working with in the future. Bridging cell identity and function in a Neuro-Evo lab idea.

I am looking forward to meet everyone and the free pizzas. See you around !