Sangyu Xu (徐桑榆)
EDUCATION
Ph.D. in Systems Neuroscience 2016, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Thesis Supervisor: Susumu Tonegawa)
B.S. in Biology (Minor in Music), University of California, San Diego (Thesis Supervisor: Charles Zuker)
WORK EXPERIENCE
Research Fellow, Adam Claridge-Chang Lab, 2017 – present
Neuromodulatory circuits in foraging and feeding
Postdoctoral Associate, Susumu Tonegawa Lab, 2016-2017
Optogenetic dissection of dorsal raphe serotonergic circuits in intertemporal decision-making
Behavioral characterization of valence encoding in genetically defined basolateral amygdala neuronal populations (in collaboration with Joshua Kim and Michele Pignatelli)
Research Assistant, Philip Ingham Lab, 2007-2008
Research Assistant, Charles Zuker Lab, 2004-2007
PUBLICATIONS
Xu S*, Das G, Hueske E and Tonegawa S* (2017). Dorsal Raphe Serotonergic Neurons Control Intertemporal Choice under Trade-off. Current Biology (*corresponding authors).
Kim J, Pignatelli M, Xu S, Itohara S and Tonegawa S (2016). Antagonistic Negative and Positive Neurons of the Basolateral Amygdala. Nature Neuroscience.
PRESENTATIONS
Control of Intertemporal Choice by Dorsal Raphe Serotonergic Neurons, Advances and Concergences in 5-HT Research (invited talk), CoSyNe, Lisbon, Portugal, 2019
Espresso: A Novel Feeding Assay for Drosophila, Neurofly (poster), Krakow, 2018
The Role of Serotonin Projections in VTA in Temporal Discounting of Reward, Motivational Circuits in Natural and Learned Behaviors Meeting (poster), HHMI Janelia Research Campus, 2015
TEACHING
9.013 Molecular and Cellular Neurosciece II (Graduate), Spring 2011, MIT
9.301 Neural Plasticity in Learning and Memory (Graduate), Spring 2010, MIT
9.150 Biochemistry and Pharmacology of Synaptic Transmission (Undergraduate), Fall 2009, MIT
HONORS AND AWARDS
Walle Nauta Award for Excellence in Graduate Teaching, MIT, 2011
Provost’s Honor, Thurgood Marshall College, UCSD, 2004-2007
National Science Scholarship, A*STAR, Singapore, 2004
Honorable Mention, Singapore Physics Olympiad, Singapore, 2002
Gold, 17th International Festival of Advent and Christmas Music, Prague, Czech Republic, 2007
