Hunger drives survival—from the decisions of immune cells to the cravings that shape our behavior. This event explores hunger at two scales: how innate immune cells decide what to "eat" as they patrol the body, and how obesity reshapes the brain’s response to hunger, altering food preferences and risk-taking. From microscopic instincts to human desire, join us for a conversation at the intersection of biology and behavior.

Doors open at 7:00PM. Event is 21+. Limited capacity - reserve your spot here! $5

Speakers:

Multitask like a New Yorker: Neutrophils that can walk and eat.

Ben Winer, PhD
he/him
BlueSky: @benjaminywiner

How does your immune system fight off infections and prevent cancers from developing? A key component of how your immune system does this is through innate immune cells called professional phagocytes. These are the cells that eat and clear dead cells, microbes, infected cells, or cancer. We still don't understand fully how these cells pick the right thing to eat. Ben will discuss how professional phagocytic cells mechanosense their environment to decide what to eat and where to move.

Ben Winer is an immunologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center who focuses on how immune cells mechanosense their surrounding environment to make decisions. He did his undergraduate work in chemistry and biophysics at William and Mary and got a PhD in infectious disease and molecular biology from Princeton University. 

Weight gain, appetite, and risk.

Paul Kenny, PhD
he/him
X: @paulkennyphd

https://labs.neuroscience.mssm.edu/project/kenny-lab/

Paul Kenny will describe new work from his lab showing that the development of obesity restructures behavioral responses to hunger. Weight gain also alters the relative value of different types of food while increasing ‘risk tolerance’ to obtain highly palatable food.

Paul serves as chair of the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He obtained a degree in biochemistry from Trinity College Dublin and his PhD in neuropharmacology from King’s College London. Paul's research is focused on the molecular and cellular neurobiology of drug addiction, obesity, and schizophrenia.