Research Fellow in Experimental Neurobiology
dierick@nsi.edu

Aggressive behavior is a complex social behavior influenced both by genetic and environmental factors and is still poorly understood. To try and understand this complex behavior I have chosen to study the fruit fly, Drosophila melanogaster. My approach to dissect the molecular basis of aggression has been to generate artificially selected lines that have dramatically increased aggression and to molecularly characterize these lines using microarray analysis followed by mutant analysis. Additionally I am using the standard molecular genetic tools of Drosophila to manipulate specific areas in the fly brain to identify circuits that affect aggression. The integration of these approaches will uncover the basic molecular and neurobiological mechanisms of fly aggression and may shed light on this complex behavior in unrelated species.

Education:

• M.D., Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium
• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Michigan
• Postdoctoral Fellow, Northwestern University
• Postdoctoral Fellow, The Neurosciences Institute

Selected Publications:

Dierick, H.A., and Greenspan, R.J. (2006) Molecular analysis of flies selected for aggressive behavior. Submitted.

Greenspan, R.J., Dierick, H.A. (2004) “Am not I a fly like thee?” From genes in fruit flies to behavior in humans. Hum. Mol. Genet., 13, R267-R273.

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