Throughout her career, Dr. Devineni has been driven by a desire to explain how the brain produces behavior at the level of genes, cells, and neural circuits. As an undergraduate at Stanford she investigated this question from a developmental perspective, studying how genetic programs regulate the wiring of neural circuits in Drosophila. During her Ph.D. at UCSF, she recognized that the same molecular and genetic approaches could be applied to study neural circuits and behavior. Working with Dr. Ulrike Heberlein, she established a new paradigm for studying addiction-like behavior in flies and uncovered genetic and neural mechanisms regulating behavioral responses to alcohol.

As a postdoc in Dr. Richard Axel’s lab at Columbia, Dr. Devineni began studying the Drosophila taste system as a model to investigate sensory processing and modulation. Her work revealed new principles in how the brain represents taste and transforms it into behavior (read a summary here). First, she identified the neural mechanisms by which a single taste cue can elicit opposing behaviors depending on internal state, affording an animal the flexibility to adapt to changing internal needs (eLife, 2019). Second, she discovered novel temporal dynamics in neural responses to taste (Current Biology, 2021). These dynamics are generated cell-intrinsically, correlate with behavioral changes, and drive synaptic plasticity during learning. Together, this work revealed two themes that her own lab is building on: 1) the flexibility that must be built into a genetically determined circuit, and 2) the complex repertoire of behaviors elicited by a single sensory cue. These themes have been largely unexplored in the taste field.

In her lab at Emory, Dr. Devineni’s goal is to use the fly taste system to understand general principles by which neural circuits integrate internal and external cues and transform them into a flexible set of behaviors. Learn more here and see our latest publications here.

Outside of the lab, Dr. Devineni strongly values teaching, science communication, and science outreach. She teaches undergraduate courses in the Biology department (currently BIOL360/NBB301 and 2 lectures in BIOL450) and contributes to graduate courses (IBS526 and IBS560). She is also passionate about promoting diversity, inclusion, and equity in academia and improving the training environment for students and postdocs. At Columbia she helped form the Zuckerman Institute Trainee Advisory Committee (ZTAC), a group dedicated to promoting the scientific training, professional development, and general welfare of students and postdocs. The group’s efforts led to greater recognition of the challenges that trainees face, new support systems for postdocs, and initiatives to improve mentorship at the institute.

In her free time, Dr. Devineni enjoys (ultra)running, hiking and camping, creating silly bingo cards, and convincing people that fruit flies are cute.

Profile by Stories of WiN

Profile by Scientist on the Subway

“The Science Life” cartoon featuring Dr. Devineni, by the Zuckerman Institute

Dr. Devineni’s blog (not frequently updated)

Dr. Devineni Twitter

Recording of Dr. Devineni’s 15 minute talk for Neuromatch conference, October 2020