Harvard University

Harvard is at the frontier of academic and intellectual discovery. Those who venture here—to learn, research, teach, work, and grow—join nearly four centuries of students and scholars in the pursuit of truth, knowledge, and a better world.

As a research university and nonprofit institution, Harvard is focused on creating educational opportunities for people from many lived experiences.

Stephen Kissler

Postdoctoral fellow

Harvard University

Geoffrey Supran

Research fellow

Harvard University

Catherine Dulac

Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, the Higgins Professor of Molecular and Cellular Biology and the Lee and Ezpeleta Professor of Arts and Sciences

Harvard University

March 20, 2025

Researchers uncover neurological basis for social contact, a basic human need

NOMIS Awardee Catherine Dulac and her research team have discovered that the brain processes social needs in a similar way to basic survival needs like food, water and sleep, illustrating […]

November 1, 2024

Catherine Dulac named officer of the Legion d’Honneur

NOMIS Awardee Catherine Dulac was honored with the title of Officer of the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian award. The prestigious medal was presented to her by the French Ambassador at a […]

February 22, 2023

Your brain could be controlling how sick you get — and how you recover

The research of NOMIS Awardee Catherine Dulac was highlighted in a news feature published in Nature examining the growing body of evidence that the brain affects immune responses. Dulac and […]

November 29, 2022

Catherine Dulac named University Professor at Harvard

NOMIS Awardee Catherine Dulac, along with two other Harvard researchers, have been named University Professors, Harvard’s highest distinction for a faculty member. A molecular biologist and geneticist studying the brain […]

November 8, 2021

NOMIS Award presented to four pioneering scientists

Recognizing their outstanding contributions to the advancement of science and human progress through their pioneering, collaborative research, the 2021 as well as the 2020 NOMIS Distinguished Scientist and Scholar Award […]

March 5, 2025

Sensory input, sex and function shape hypothalamic cell type development

Abstract: Mammalian behaviour and physiology undergo major changes in early life. Young animals rely on conspecifics to meet their needs and start showing nutritional independence and sex-specific social interactions at weaning […]

February 26, 2025

A hypothalamic circuit underlying the dynamic control of social homeostasis

Abstract: Social grouping increases survival in many species, including humans1,2. By contrast, social isolation generates an aversive state (‘loneliness’) that motivates social seeking and heightens social interaction upon reunion3,4,5. The observed […]

Researchers uncover neurological basis for social contact, a basic human need

News

Sensory input, sex and function shape hypothalamic cell type development

Insight

A hypothalamic circuit underlying the dynamic control of social homeostasis

Insight