Welcome
We are a group of geneticists, neuroscientists, and computer scientists who are passionate about discoveries of novel targets and models for mental illness through innovation at the confluence of computational, genetic, and genomic methods.
The Kumar Laboratory is located at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine. We study neural circuits in the brain whose misregulation leads to behavioral abnormalities including addiction, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and depression. Using mouse molecular genetics as a foundation, and a combination of computational, biochemistry, physiology, and imaging techniques, we dissect these complex conditions in mammals.
Latest Lab News and Blogs:
Tuan and Michelle present at the Maine Society for Neuroscience 2026
On Saturday, March 28th Tuan and Michelle presented a talk and posters at the regional Society for Neuroscience conference held at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor. They talked about the power of using the lab's machine vision tool, JABS, for evaluating rare...
Camille stars in The Grand’s production of Murder on the Orient Express
Our own Camille leads as Hercule Poirot in Murder on the Orient Express! The Grand Theatre in Ellsworth, ME presented Agatha Christie’s classic mystery, Murder on the Orient Express, featuring Camille in the lead role of the world-renowned detective Hercule Poirot....
Glen and Michelle present their work at the Maine IDeA Data Science Conference
Glen and Michelle talked about JABS and its application to the Rett model, respectively. The two-day conference was held at MDI Biolabs. This is the second year the Kumar Lab has participated in the Maine IDeA conference. Last year, Vivek gave the keynote address at...
Farewell, Brian!
Brian Geuther left the Kumar Lab 1/2/26 after a decade of service. Brian was instrumental in shaping the Kumar Lab's tech stack and machine learning processes. We will miss him immensely, but wish him great luck in pursuing all his future endeavors. The Kumar Lab...
Kumar Lab Q4 2025 Retreat
The Kumar Lab concluded 2025 with a three day long retreat at Camp Beechcliff. Workshops and discussions were broken up by gym activities and olympics lead by Marina & Fionna. Photos here show lab members sharing where they will be in a year and future aspirations.
Our Lab’s New Publication: Automated Seizure Detection in Mice
Congrats Gautam and Marina on publishing their newest work on Cell Reports Methods. In this work, we introduce a method that uses non-invasive video recordings to automatically quantify seizure severity in mice. Read full paper here:...
The Kumar Lab Gets Creative
The Kumar Lab got goofy at the annual Jax carnival where Nicole & Camille painted faces! Check below to see some of the brave volunteers!
Malachy selected as a Fulbright Scholar
Malachy was a JAX SSP in the Kumar Lab and authored the Mouse Mass paper. Malachy has been accepted into Yale PhD program and will defer for a year to carry out Fulbright research in Barcelona, Spain. Congratulations, Malachy, we are very proud of your...
Francis Collins visits JAX
We had a special visitor this summer, Francis Collins and his wife, Diane Baker. Jake and Vivek had the privilege of meeting Dr. and Mrs. Collins. Jake shared his work with them. The visit was arranged by JAX Government Affairs (LuAnn Ballesteros). [gallery...
Elaina Cote graduates from UMaine and has been accepted into the Tufts PhD Program
Elaina Cote was a Kumar Lab MDI high school intern and a JAX SSP. She graduated from UMaine and will be starting at Tufts University Graduate School. Congratulations, Elaina! We are proud of your accomplishments. Good luck in graduate school.
Monarch Foster Season is Upon Us!
It's been a banner year for Nicole Johnston's butterfly garden. Over 20 Monarch caterpillars have been collected and housed in protective netted cages. So far one butterfly has emerged and been released, 17 chrysalides awaiting emergence, and a handful of...
Dustin’s Summer Research with the Kumar Lab
Dustin spent 10 weeks with the Kumar Lab this summer, making valuable contributions in unsupervised machine learning to predict biological age. At the end of the program, he shared his findings at the Summer Student Symposium, demonstrating his dedication and the...
