Welcome
We are a group of geneticists, neuroscientists, and computer scientists who are passionate about discoveries of novel targets and models for mental illness through innovation at the confluence of computational, genetic, and genomic methods.
The Kumar Laboratory is located at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. We study neural circuits in the brain whose misregulation leads to behavioral abnormalities including addiction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and depression. Using mouse molecular genetics as a foundation, and a combination of computational, biochemistry, physiology, and imaging techniques, we dissect these complex conditions in mammals.
Latest Lab News and Blogs:
Malachy selected as a Fulbright Scholar
Malachy was a JAX SSP in the Kumar Lab and authored the Mouse Mass paper. Malachy has been accepted into Yale PhD program and will defer for a year to carry out Fulbright research in Barcelona, Spain. Congratulations, Malachy, we are very proud of your...
Francis Collins visits JAX
We had a special visitor this summer, Francis Collins and his wife, Diane Baker. Jake and Vivek had the privilege of meeting Dr. and Mrs. Collins. Jake shared his work with them. The visit was arranged by JAX Government Affairs (LuAnn Ballesteros). [gallery...
Elaina Cote graduates from UMaine and has been accepted into the Tufts PhD Program
Elaina Cote was a Kumar Lab MDI high school intern and a JAX SSP. She graduated from UMaine and will be starting at Tufts University Graduate School. Congratulations, Elaina! We are proud of your accomplishments. Good luck in graduate school.
Monarch Foster Season is Upon Us!
It's been a banner year for Nicole Johnston's butterfly garden. Over 20 Monarch caterpillars have been collected and housed in protective netted cages. So far one butterfly has emerged and been released, 17 chrysalides awaiting emergence, and a handful of...
Dustin’s Summer Research with the Kumar Lab
Dustin spent 10 weeks with the Kumar Lab this summer, making valuable contributions in unsupervised machine learning to predict biological age. At the end of the program, he shared his findings at the Summer Student Symposium, demonstrating his dedication and the...
Gautam wins award at Stats Methods for Geroscience 2025
Gautam Sabnis was awarded a competitive scholarship to attend the “Statistical Methods, Developments, and Challenges in Geroscience” conference organized by the Indiana University School of Public Health in Indianapolis, IN. The meeting brought together a diverse...
Happy Hour at the Chart Room
Last Thursday, the Kumar lab took a well-deserved break and went out to the Chart Room for happy hour together. It was a great chance to enjoy good food and share laughters!
2025 Annual Pirate Golf and BBQ
The annual Kumar Lab Pirate Golf and BBQ took place on the July 16th. Nicole was the winner this year! Lots of fun. [gallery type="rectangular" size="medium"...
2025 Annual Kumar Lab Photo
Our 2025 lab portrait was expertly done by JAX Creative. Thank you, Tiffany Laufer, for the photo. Since Anshul Choudhary and Alex Berger could not make the photo, Alex added to the portrait using cutting-edge image modification methods. Here is an alternative version...
Camille and Alex Wedding
We had a wedding in the lab! Camille and Alex's wedding was on June 20. The wedding was a wonderful event. Congratulations, Camille and Alex! Lots of love from the lab.
Jaycee at CVPR 2025
Jaycee Choi, PhD Candidate, recently attended the Computer Vision Pattern Recognition (CVPR) conference in Nashville, Tennessee. CVPR is one of the premier international conferences in computer science that brings together researchers in computer vision. Jaycee...
Kumar Lab hosts first SSPsyGene SING consortium meeting
In January 2025, the Kumar Lab was awarded a RM1 grant to analyze behavior in 100 mouse model of neurodevelopmental disorder. As part of the grant, we have annual meetings of the consortium members. The 2025 meeting was held in JAX, Bar Harbor and organized by Nicole...
