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.
Primarily, we use functional genomic approaches in mice to identify genes and pathways that regulate these behaviors. We seek to develop better models of human diseases that can be used by the biomedical research community for therapeutics. Recently, we have applied machine learning and artificial intelligence methods to understand animal behavior at high spatial and temporal resolution, objectively, and over long periods of time. Our work has been published in numerous high impact journals such as Science, eLife, Nature Communications Biology, among others.
Latest Lab News and Blogs:

Vivek presents lab research at UTHSC
Vivek was invited by the graduate students of the UTHSC Neuroscience Program. He met with several colleagues and met new students. His talk focused on the use of computer vision for preclinical models of psychiatric disease.

Vivek presents poster at Gordon Research Conference on the Neurobiology of Addiction
Vivek attended the GRC on addiction at Newry, Maine. The conference consisted of ~200 neuroscientists.

Yehya passes their qualifying exam.
Yehya passed their quals in June 2022. Congratulations on becoming an official PhD candidate.

Kumar Lab organizes a symposium on Machine Learning and Behavior Quantification at IBANGS
The International Brain and Neural Genetics Society organized its 23rd Annual Genes, Brain & Behavior Meeting on May 23rd-27th, 2022 in Memphis at the UTHSC. The meeting was hybrid with over 100 participants. Vivek organized a symposium titled Behavior...

Tufts Genetics and Neuro PhD Students Meet at JAX for a Retreat
Tufts students in the Genetics and Neuroscience programs joined together on April 11 - April 13 in the annual effort to facilitate community between the Boston-based and Bar Harbor-based students. The three-day retreat featured student-talk sessions, student-poster...

Vivek attends the SFARI Investigator Meeting in New York
Vivek attended the SFARI Investigator's meeting on April 11-13 in NYC. The meeting booklet is here. The meeting had ~200 investigators with a wide array of topics from human genetics to systems neuroscience.

Some useful links