1 + 1[1] 2Jason Somers (PhD)
Bio: I completed my PhD in genetics at the University of Melbourne using the vinegar fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model to study novel insecticide resistance mechanism. I undertook my postdoctoral work in the lab of Professor Joerg Albert, at the UCL Ear Institute, centred on how sensory systems and environmental conditions can influence rhythmic behaviours in insects. Using both flies and mosquitoes I studied the link between circadian rhythms and mechanosensation using behavioural, biophysical and molecular techniques. My interest in insect sensory physiology and behaviour lead me to join the Neural Circuits and Evolution lab at The Francis Crick Institute as a research scientist to study what changes occur in olfactory systems in different fly species that have different host preferences.