 |
Microbiota–Microglia Axis and the Social Brain |
| Research Interests: | My research interests concern the biology of competitive social behaviour and social hierarchies. During my PhD, I studied how social rank is associated with behavioural, cognitive and psychopathological profiles, dopaminergic activity and stress responsivity. During my postdoctoral work, I developed a semi-natural paradigm of territorial dominance and subordination in mice, and proposed a neuroethological framework linking naturalistic behaviour with circuit neuroscience (hypothalamus and adjacent structures; calcium imaging, optogenetics, chemogenetics). I am now establishing my own research group, investigating the gut microbiota–microglia axis and its effect on synaptic connectivity and social rank in both males and females. |
| Present Position: | Group Leader, Life Sciences Center, Vilnius University |
| Education: |
2016–2019 - PhD in Neuroscience, IBPS, CNRS, INSERM, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France 2014–2016 - M.Sc. in Psychobiology and Cognitive Neurosciences, University of Parma, Italy 2010–2012 - M.Sc. in Psychology and Economics, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France 2007–2010 - B.Sc. in Psychology, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France |
| Experience (Past Positions): | 2020–2026 - Postdoctoral Fellow, Neural Control of Instinctive Behavior group, EMBL, Rome, Italy 2016–2019 - PhD Student, Gene Expression and Adaptive Behaviors group, IBPS, Sorbonne Université, Paris, France 2013–2014 - Operational Manager, recruitment unit, Fitch Bennett Partners, Paris, France 2012–2013 - Survey Officer, Opinionway, Paris, France |
| Subjects Taught: | October 2024 - EMBL Predoctoral Course in Neurobiology, Heidelberg, Germany |
| Awards: | 2025 - “My First Research Team” (MFRT) grant, funding the establishment of my research group at Vilnius University 2025 - MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowship proposal (HORIZON-MSCA-2025-PF-01), score 93%, offered funding through the Lithuanian national ERDF mechanism (declined in favour of the MFRT grant) 2020 - EMBL Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Fellowship Programme 4 (EIPOD4) 2016 - ED3C Doctoral Fellowship (Cerveau, Cognition, Comportement) |
| Publications: | LABT_LMAVB ORCID |
| Languages: | French (native), English (fluent), Italian (fluent), Lithuanian (intermediate) |