Sthitapranjya Pati

Sthita is a Senior Research Fellow in the Harris Lab, where he is investigating how sleep shapes neural circuits to support learning, memory, and energy homeostasis.  Despite spending nearly a third of our lives, sleep's fundamental purpose remains a major unsolved problem in neuroscience.  Using targeted optogenetics and large-scale electrophysiological recordings in freely moving mice, Sthita is exploring how sleep modulates sensory representation and plasticity within the olfactory circuit - a uniquely tractable model for studying neuronal network function. His research aims to elucidate sleep's essential role in cognition and brain function.
Prior to joining the SWC, Sthita earned a PhD in Behavioural Neuroscience from the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research (2018), where he studied the neural mechanisms underlying early-life programming of long-term behavioural changes under the mentorship of Vidita Vaidya. In 2020, he joined the Sainsbury Wellcome Centre as a Research Fellow in the Stephenson-Jones Lab, investigating the role of the basal ganglia in action sequencing and sensorimotor transformations.