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July 9, 2025

From sleep cycles to hormone levels to body temperature, nearly every aspect of our biology follows a 24-hour rhythm. These daily patterns, known as circadian rhythms, are not just passive responses to the rising and setting sun. They are actively regulated by an internal clock deep in the brain: the suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN). This tiny region acts as the body’s timekeeper, aligning behavior and physiology with the external environment.

In Texas A&M University’s Department of Biology, Dr. Jeff Jones leads a research program dedicated to uncovering how this clock operates at its most fundamental level. His lab investigates how genes, neurons, and circuits within the SCN and downstream brain regions interact to generate circadian rhythms. By studying how the SCN receives input (such as light), maintains internal timing, and sends output signals that shape complex behaviors and physiological functions, Dr. Jones’ team is piecing together the full picture of our biological timing system.

His lab has developed new methods to track and manipulate circadian gene expression and neural activity in living animals over multiple days. With these tools, the team can examine how SCN firing patterns influence brain-wide signaling and behavior, and how disruptions in these patterns may contribute to health problems.

Ultimately, the Jones Lab aims to decode how the SCN communicates with the rest of the brain and how different types of neurons interpret and pass along timing information to drive rhythms in behavior and physiology. Key questions include: Which neurons receive timing cues from the SCN? How do they integrate these signals with other inputs? And how do they help maintain distinct biological rhythms across systems?

Why It Matters

Circadian rhythms are more than sleep schedules; they are critical for physical and mental health. Disruptions in the circadian system are linked to metabolic diseases, cardiovascular disorders, and mental health conditions such as depression and bipolar disorder. Dr. Jones’ research clarifies how the brain’s master clock encodes and distributes time signals, a crucial step toward understanding and eventually treating circadian-related disorders. By uncovering the neural logic of our internal clocks, this work could lead to better strategies for restoring healthy rhythms in people whose circadian systems have been disrupted.

July 9, 2026

Dr. Yuchao Jiang, associate professor with joint appointments in the Departments of Statistics and Biology at Texas A&M University, was awarded a $2 million R35 grant from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences through the Maximizing Investigators’ Research Award (MIRA) program. The award will support research conducted by his lab until 2031.  

This will be the second funding cycle for the Jiang Lab of Statistical Genomics, which was previously awarded the MIRA from 2020-2026.

The Next Five Years of Research

The Jiang Lab of Statistical Genomics works in the cross sections of statistics, biology and computer science to develop statistical methods and software that enable researchers to translate large-scale genomic and biomedical data into biological discoveries and clinical applications. “We collaborate with biologists, clinicians and research scientists to better harness the data they collect,” Jiang said.  

During the 2020–2026 funding cycle, Jiang’s lab identified new statistical challenges presented by emerging biomedical data and developed data-driven methods and open-source tools to help biomedical researchers analyze that data. 

This results in better data analysis and experimental design, easing some of the technical hardships that result from extensive data sets.  

In collaboration with experimental labs, Jiang’s team successfully applied its statistical research to interrogate cellular heterogeneity — variations in function and biology between individual cells. 

Jiang worked with researchers to develop multiple software programs for single-cell omics: SCALE, SCOPE, SCDC, Destin, Destin2, Canopy2, EPIC, TRIPOD, and distQTL.

The next five years of Jiang’s MIRA proposal includes efforts to continue developing statistical models for biological research, now in the context of detecting circadian rhythmicity, probing gene regulation and integrating genetic data at the population scale with single-cell and spatial omics technologies.  

His goal is to facilitate the translation of basic research findings into clinical studies of human diseases, providing freely available open-source packages for the biomedical research community.  

“What used to be the most cutting-edge technology and methodology has revolutionized rapidly,” Jiang said. “We must always learn and adapt our research to the most front-ended studies taking place.”

A Continuously Developing Field

Jiang oversees the Bachelor of Sciences in Bioinformatics program at Texas A&M, which was introduced as a new degree program in the fall semester of 2025. This program bridges the gap between biology, statistics and computer science with coursework in all three disciplines, preparing students for high-demand career opportunities. 

His interdisciplinary bioinformatics research team includes graduate students from statistics, biology, biomedical engineering and biostatistics.  

“Some of my students have good biological interpretation, some are good at deriving frameworks and others are exceptional programmers,” Jiang said. “This diversity of expertise is one of the reasons bioinformatics is such an important and exciting field.” 

April 29, 2026

The Society for Undergraduate Biology Students have met with several distinguished scientists this semester, giving undergraduate students the chance to have real conversations on research and life, and ultimately aiming for students to leave feeling supported, inspired, and curious about science! Take a moment to learn about these world-class scientists with the information below.

Leslie Griffith is a professor at Brandeis University specializing in molecular and cellular neuroscience. Dr. Griffith’s work focuses on understanding how the brain forms, stores, and retrieves memories—a key area of investigation with implications for neurodegenerative diseases and cognitive disorders. Her pioneering studies have advanced our understanding of neural circuits and the molecular mechanisms underlying learning and memory.

Michael Young, Richard and Jeanne Fisher Professor and head of the Laboratory of Genetics at The Rockefeller University, is also the university’s vice president for academic affairs. Young is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society and an honorary member of the Physiological Society of London. Along with colleagues Jeffrey Hall and Michael Rosbash, Young received the 2017 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for discoveries of molecular mechanisms that control circadian rhythms. 

Michael Young is also a Fellow at The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, class of 2022-2023.

Susan C. Alberts is renowned for her behavior, ecology, physiology and genetics of wild populations of large mammals. She directs one of the longest-running studies of wild primates globally: a 50-plus year study of baboons in the Amboseli ecosystem in Kenya. She is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, as well as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Susan Alberts is also a Fellow at The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, class of 2024-2025.

Jenny Tung, the founder of the Department of Primate Behavior and Evolution at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, has helped spearhead work to demonstrate how social environment influences gene regulation, population genetic structure, and health and survival in nonhuman primates and other social mammals. Her research unifies organismal perspectives on behavior, life history, and evolution with molecular and genetic approaches that provide exciting new insights into long-standing questions in biology that were previously unattainable. 

Jenny Tung is also a Fellow at The Hagler Institute for Advanced Study at Texas A&M University, class of 2025-2026.

August 13, 2026

A New Look at Brain Wiring

A new study from the Farhy lab in the Texas A&M University Department of Biology sheds light on how astrocytes, a type of non-neuronal brain cell, help wire developing neural circuits. The research, published in Communications Biology, focuses on how these important cells contribute to the formation and function of excitatory synapses of the visual circuit.

Dr. Farhy joined the Department of Biology in 2020. Her lab studies how astrocytes and neurons communicate to build and maintain synapses, work that directly links to human health, as synaptic dysfunction is a hallmark of conditions including autism spectrum disorders, schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, and Alzheimer’s disease.

Tracing a Calcium Pathway

The study, led by first author Gillian Imrie, a Ph.D. student in the lab, examines a calcium signaling pathway mediated by endoplasmic reticulum receptor IP3R2. Using a mouse model, the team found that without this signaling pathway, astrocytes failed to develop their normal branching structure, and nearby neurons showed disrupted synapse development in the visual system. Mice lacking the pathway also showed reduced neuronal activation in response to light and impaired behavioral responses to visual threats.

Together, the findings point to a mechanism linking astrocyte structural and functional development to how well the brain’s neural circuits mature. Because problems in astrocyte-neuron communication have been tied to neurodevelopmental disorders, the results offer a new angle for understanding what might go wrong when astrocyte development is impaired.

A Long-Standing Debate, Resolved

“There’s been a long-standing debate about the importance of this signaling pathway for brain function. Our work helps resolve this controversy by showing its role is context-specific rather than universally required, which truly highlights the versatility and complexity of astrocytic calcium signaling, and opens up new and exciting research avenues,” said Dr. Farhy.

The paper, “Astrocyte store released calcium modulates structural synapse development and circuit output in the visual system,” by Gillian Imrie, Isabella Farhy-Tselnicker and colleagues, is now available online in Communications Biology. Co-authors include Farhy lab Ph.D. students Jordan Mar and Madison B. Gray, and undergraduate researcher Tatiana Quiceno.

November 11, 2025

After more than a decade of research, a team led by Drs. Deborah Bell-Pedersen and Teresa Lamb in the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University, has uncovered how the body’s internal clock fine-tunes the cellular machinery responsible for making proteins.

The study, published in Cell Reports, demonstrates that the circadian clock rhythmically alters the composition of ribosomes – the molecular machines that translate genetic information into proteins. These daily changes, the researchers found, regulate both when proteins are produced and how accurately they are synthesized.

 Using the model organism Neurospora crassa, the team discovered that levels of specific ribosomal proteins in ribosomes, including eL31, fluctuate with circadian time and directly influence daily rhythms in cellular protein production. A surprising discovery was that clock-regulated incorporation of eL31 into ribosomes affects the accuracy of protein synthesis, linking temporal ribosome remodeling to daily changes in protein diversity that extend beyond the static genetic blueprint.

“These findings reveal that the circadian clock doesn’t just control when protein levels peak, but also how it expands the functional diversity of proteins beyond the encoded genome sequence,” said Bell-Pedersen. “By uncovering how the clock influences translation at the molecular level, we open doors to understanding how disruptions in circadian rhythms, such as those caused by shift work or jet lag, might contribute to diseases involving protein levels or protein synthesis accuracy.”

The work provides a new understanding of how timing mechanisms within cells influence nearly every aspect of biology. Because protein synthesis fidelity is critical for cellular homeostasis and longevity, the study suggests that circadian regulation helps balance translational accuracy to maintain proteostasis, particularly under stress. As clock function declines with age, this regulation may falter, increasing protein errors and driving age-related disease. Preserving circadian clock function could therefore enhance protein quality control and promote healthy aging.

Postdoctoral research on molecular and physiological basis of circadian-metabolic cross-talk

Postdoctoral positions are available in the laboratory of Dr. Shogo Sato in the Department of Biology, Texas A&M University (https://www.bio.tamu.edu/faculty-page-shogo-sato/). Our lab chases answers for how the biological circadian system programs metabolic and epigenetic functions, and brings the mounting evidence up to the translational and practical levels. We ultimately aim to develop novel approaches to promote health and reverse metabolic diseases, cancer, and aging through metabolic and epigenetic activation of the circadian clock functions.

During the early stage of our lab, we will intensively focus on;

1) determining how the circadian clocks are implicated in the functions of different types of stem cells

2) identifying exercise-related metabolites that entrain the circadian clock and metabolic rhythms

3) developing an in vivo targeting clock gene activation system

[Research keywords]

Circadian biology; Exercise biology; Stem cell biology; Biological clocks; Metabolism; Epigenetics; Metabolic diseases; Aging; Cancer; Epigenetic therapy

For more information, please see the following publications;

1. Sato, S.*, Hishida, T.*, Kinouchi, K.*, Hatanaka, F., Li, Y., Nguyen, Q., Chen, Y., Wang, P.H., Kessenbrock, K., Li, W., Belmonte, J.C.I., Sassone-Corsi, P. (under review) The circadian clock CRY1 regulates pluripotent stem cell identity. *contributed equally.
2. Sato, S.*, Dyar, K.*, Treebak, J.T.*, Jepsen, S.L., Ehrlich, A.M, Ashcroft, S.P., Trost, K., Kunzke, T., Prade, V.M., Small, L., Basse, A.L., Schönke, M., Chen, S., Samad, M., Baldi, P., Barres, R., Walch, A., Moritz, T., Holst, J.J., Lutter, D., Zierath, J.R., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2022) Atlas of exercise metabolism reveals time-dependent signatures of metabolic homeostasis. Cell Metab 34, 329-345 *contributed equally.
3. Sato, S., Basse, A.L., Schönke, M., Chen, S., Samad, M., Altıntaş, A., Laker, R.C., Dalbram, E., Barrès, R., Baldi, P., Treebak, J.T., Zierath, J.R., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2019) Time of exercise specifies the impact of muscle metabolic pathways and systemic energy homeostasis. Cell Metab 30, 92-110.
4. Sato, S.*, Parr, E.B.*, Devlin, B.L., Hawley, J.A., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2018) Human Metabolomics reveal daily variations under nutritional challenges specific to serum and skeletal muscle. Mol Metab 16, 1-11. *contributed equally.
5. Sato, S.*, Solanas, G.*, Peixoto, F.O.*, Bee, L., Symeonidi, A., Schmidt, M.S., Brenner, C., Masri, S., Benitah, S.A., Sassone-Corsi, P. (2017) Circadian reprogramming in the liver identifies metabolic pathways of aging. Cell 170, 1-12. *contributed equally.

[Qualification]

1. Applicants should hold a Ph.D. (or M.D./Ph.D., M.D.)
2. Team-players, and motivated, enthusiastic and cooperative talents
3. Applicants with any research backgrounds are welcome but should be interested in circadian biological research
4. Experience in biochemical, molecular biological analyses using small rodents and cell culture is preferred

[Salary, Benefits]

1. Salary (stipend) will be paid according to TAMU and NIH guidelines (see https://grants.nih.gov/grants/guide/notice-files/NOT-OD-21-049.html).
2. Benefits including health insurance will be covered according to TAMU guideline.

Please send 1) a cover letter and CV including names and contact information of two/three references, and 2) a summary of previous (current) research and future research interest (1-2 pages) to Shogo Sato (shogo.sato@bio.tamu.edu).

Please feel free to contact me and ask any questions.

Shogo Sato, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor

Center for Biological Clocks Research, Department of Biology

Texas A&M University

shogo.sato@bio.tamu.edu