Genetic manipulations in the fruit fly fight club: how do amine neurons work?

 Dr. Edward A. Kravitz is the George Packer Berry Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard Medical School. He is a graduate of the City College of New York (BS in Biology and Chemistry) and The University of Michigan (Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry). His post-doctoral studies were at NIH. Thereafter he went to Harvard Medical School, where he later became a professor. Dr Kravitz’s research interests have centered on neurotransmitters and neuromodulators, and now focus on the role of such substances in aggression. Currently, the laboratory is studying fruit fly fighting behavior, which offers a powerful experimental system for identifying mechanisms that underlie this behavior. Experiments are using the GAL4/UAS and differences in fighting behavior between males and females to identify genes involved in laying down patterns of behavior in nervous systems. The Kravitz laboratory has published over 100 papers on these and related topics in first rank journals. Presently Kravitz is supported by a grant from NIGMS for his research on aggression.

Dr. Kravitz is involved with societies such as; Society for Neuroscience and the International Society for Neuroethology (where he became President), United States National Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Medicine (Governing Council), is a Fellow of the AAAS, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.