Leslie Birgit Vosshall, Ph.D., is an American neurobiologist and currently an HHMI Investigator and the Robin Chemers Neustein Professor of Neurogenetics and Behavior at The Rockefeller University. She is also the director of the Kavli Neural Systems Institute at The Rockefeller University. She is well known for her contributions to the field of olfaction, particularly for the discovery and subsequent characterization of the insect olfactory receptor family, and to the genetic basis of chemosensory behavior in mosquitoes and humans.
Early life
Leslie Vosshall was born in Lausanne, Switzerland where she spent most of her early childhood. Vosshall moved to New Jersey when she was 8 years old. She spent summers from age 17 to 19 in her uncle, Philip Dunham's, summer laboratory with Gerald Weissmann at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole. Vosshall said this experience was "an incredible introduction to the practice of science."
Education
Vosshall received her B.A. in Biochemistry from Columbia University in 1987 and her Ph.D. from Rockefeller University in 1993. She then returned to Columbia for a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of future Nobel laureateRichard Axel from 1993-1997. She then worked in the position of Associate Research Scientist in Dr. Axel's laboratory from 1997-2000. Vosshall was offered the position of Assistant Professor at The Rockefeller University in 2000, and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2006. In April 2010, she was granted tenure and is currently the Robin Chemers Neustein Professor and Head of the Laboratory of Neurogenetics and Behavior. She served as Associate Director of the Kavli Neural Systems Institute from 2015-2016 and was promoted to Director in 2016.
Research
The Vosshall Lab uses three model organisms: fruit flies, mosquitoes and humans to understand how the nervous system processes and perceives odors. In addition, the Vosshall Lab studies the genetic basis of mosquitoes' host-seeking and blood-feeding behaviors. Research from Vosshall's lab demonstrated that a chemical transferred from the male of the species during sex plays a key role in shaping the female’s sexual proclivities. The Vosshall lab discovered that the domestic form of the mosquito Aedes aegypti has increased attraction to humans, due to higher expression of odorant receptorAaegOr4. In addition, work from the Vosshall lab led to the discovery that ORCO, a mosquito co-receptor, is responsible for their attraction to humans and their sensitivity to the insect repellentDEET.
