Circadian rhythms - 24-hour internal clocks that exist within the brains of all people and animals - are essential to human health. Not only do they tell us when to wake up and go to sleep; these biological clocks play a critical role in ensuring that the body's essential functions occur at the proper time each day.
Several factors may disrupt circadian rhythms, including the environment, which can have both short- and long-term health implications. Orie Shafer and Maria de la Paz Fernandez, married neuroscientists who study these factors, recently arrived at Indiana University to expand their research programs and increase understanding of how the brain's clock works.
Orie Shafer is the Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Biology. Photo by Chris Meyer, Indiana University
"Sleep and proper daily rhythms are fundamental to our health, but it is clear that our modern environments have not been good for our biological clocks or sleep," said Shafer, the Linda and Jack Gill Chair of Biology at the Gill Institute for Neuroscience. "Changes to our environment, like the standardization of time zones or spending more time under artificial light instead of outdoors, have produced widespread sleep deprivation and very unstable sleep/wake cycles. If we can figure out how these clocks operate under new environmental conditions, we can understand how to fix our sleep in these modern times."
Shafer and Fernandez study Drosophila, a type of fruit fly used commonly in research due to their molecular, anatomical and physiological features that are very similar to the biological clock system of mammals. The researchers are already working closely with the team at the Bloomington Drosophila Stock Center, which houses the world's largest collection of fruit flies, to utilize their expertise in fly biology.
While Shafer focuses primarily on understanding how the brain's internal clock turns into the proper timing to sleep and wake, Fernandez studies how differences in the .
"Many assumptions made in neuroscience relate to the male brain," said Fernandez, an assistant professor of biology in the IU College of Arts and Sciences. "But in looking at sex as a biological variable, it is clear that some of the assumptions made about males are not true for females. In addition to sleep/wake cycles, we are looking at how the clock controls other behaviors, in particular sex-specific behaviors like aggression or courtship."
Shafer joined the Gill Institute for Neuroscience as its seventh Gill Chair. Founded in 1999, the institute brings together world-class scientists at IU Bloomington and state-of-the-art facilities to advance understanding of complex biological processes and to train the next generation of scientists.
"The Gill Institute offers Gill Chairs a wonderful opportunity to test new and exciting ideas that may be deemed too risky to get funded initially until we can show their promise," Shafer said. "Indiana University, the Gill Institute and the life sciences here have such outstanding reputations, and I am excited to continue to expand my research within this community."
Fernandez has joined the Department of Biology in the College of Arts and Sciences and will collaborate with faculty and students to grow her research program and increase its impact.
"Indiana University is an excellent environment for me to pursue the research that I do, particularly within the world-famous biology department," Fernandez said. "It is a large department with really accomplished faculty who are also very kind, and I am looking forward to working with IU graduate students in several current and new projects in the lab."
