Our Members

Swathi Yadlapalli, Ph.D., and her lab focuses on the neural and molecular mechanisms driving circadian rhythms, using Drosophila as a model to uncover how clock proteins, mRNA, and genes dynamically localize and regulate ~24‑hour cycles. Her team has pioneered live-cell imaging methods to show: clock proteins form membrane-less condensates at the nuclear envelope, clock genes cluster near the envelope, and specific introns in timeless mRNA are spliced at nuclear speckles—timing mechanisms essential for daily rhythms. A former HHMI and Damon Runyon postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Yadlapalli holds a Ph.D. (2013, UM Medical School), an M.S. from Yale (2008), and a B.S. from IIIT Hyderabad (2004). As a member of the Eisenberg Depression Center, she aims to translate insights from fly clocks to human health—shedding light on how circadian disruption contributes to disorders like diabetes, cancer, and neurodegeneration.