Sharma Lab

Exploring the enteric nervous system

We study how peripheral neurons develop, function, and relay signals between organs and neural circuits.

The intestine is run by three kinds of neurons at once. Enteric neurons in the gut wall, sensory neurons that report to the brain and spinal cord, and autonomic neurons that carry commands back out.

We build mouse genetic tools that reach each of these cell types individually, then ask what each one actually does, how it is wired, what it responds to, and which part of gut function falls apart without it.