Marcelo O. Dietrich, M.D., Ph.D.
Associate Professor of Comparative Medicine & Neuroscience – Yale School of Medicine
Defining the role of immune cells and inflammatory mediators in avoidance behavior and allergic reactions.
Marcelo O. Dietrich is an Associate Professor of Comparative Medicine and of Neuroscience at Yale School of Medicine. He studies the development of homeostatic systems, focusing on neuronal circuits involved in feeding and energy balance regulation and has pioneered computational methods to quantify animal behaviors and physiological processes. In collaboration with other investigators, he also studies the participation of peripheral tissues in communications with the brain in physiological and pathological processes, including how the brain coordinates responses to allergens in the food.
Marcelo Dietrich’s research at FASI focuses on food allergy and behavior by uncovering the neuro-immune mechanisms underlying gut-brain communication in allergies. The aims of this research include defining the role of immune cells and inflammatory mediators in avoidance behavior and allergic reactions, characterizing somatosensory pathways linking allergen sensing to behavioral and physiological responses, and determining the brain circuits that control parasympathetic and behavioral responses to food allergens.
Featured Publications
Zimmer MR, Fonseca AHO, Iyilikci O, Pra RD, Dietrich MO. Functional Ontogeny of Hypothalamic Agrp Neurons in Neonatal Mouse Behaviors. Cell. 2019 Jun 27;178(1):44-59.e7. PMID: 31104844
Cavalcanti-de-Albuquerque JP, Bober J, Zimmer MR, Dietrich MO. Regulation of substrate utilization and adiposity by Agrp neurons. Nat Commun. 2019 Jan 18;10(1):311. PMID: 30659173
Dietrich MO, Zimmer MR, Bober J, Horvath TL. Hypothalamic Agrp neurons drive stereotypic behaviors beyond feeding. Cell. 2015 Mar 12;160(6):1222-32. PMID: 25748653