The Cohen Lab develops and applies new tools to study biology. We push the limits of physics and chemistry to make measurements in previously inaccessible regimes. Work in the lab combines optics, protein engineering, chemistry, electrophysiology, simulation, and theory. We work at the levels of individual molecules, single cells, and whole, genetically modified, organisms.
A major focus is toward studying electrical signaling in the nervous system. We developed fluorescent reporters of membrane voltage and associated instrumentation to map electrical activity with high resolution in space and time. We study information processing in the brains of awake, behaving mice and zebrafish. We also work on electrical signaling in other tissues; on mechanical signaling in cells; and on the roles of physical forces in embryonic development.