Biography

I received my B.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry from University of Delhi, India during which I was also a summer research fellow at the Drosophila chronobiology lab at the Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research, Bangalore. Thereafter, I was in Germany for over 10 years where I did my M.Sc. in Neuroscience (Göttingen), PhD specializing in optogenetics and nematode C. elegans behaviour (Frankfurt), followed by a post-doc on Zebrafish stress neurobiology (Mainz).

I have been in Cork, Ireland since January 2020, first as an Irish Research Council Government of Ireland post-doctoral fellow at APC Microbiome Ireland, then as a lecturer (specific-purpose fixed-term, from August 2022 till January 2024) at the Department of Pharmacology & Therapeutics, UCC, followed by lectureship in Translational Pharmaceutical Sciences at the School of Pharmacy and iEd Hub (till September 2024), here at UCC.

Since October 2024, I hold a permanent lectureship in Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics, UCC. I am also a senior scientist at APC Microbiome Ireland, and co-chair UCC Race Equality Network.

Research Interests

Neuroscience, Microbiota-Gut-Brain Axis, Stress and Social Neurobiology and Behaviour, Optogenetics, Neurodevelopment, Zebrafish and C. elegans.

Research Grants

  Project Funding
Body 		Start Date End Date Award
SFI 22/PATH-S/10876 - The Role of Early-Life Microbiome in Sculpting Stress-Social neural Circuits in Zebrafish - Jatin Nagpal [X] Science Foundation of Ireland 01-APR-24 31-MAR-28 €589,552.00
IRC Government of Ireland Postdoctoral Award Irish Research Council 01-JAN-20 01-JAN-22 €91,850.00
Co-PI, APC Microbiome Ireland - Industry partnership grant with Reckitt to leverage Zebrafish as screening platform for microbiota-driven therapeutics Industry Sponsor €195,000.00
Intramural Research Funding for young academic researchers from the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz Other: Not Listed 01-JAN-17 01-JAN-18 €14,000.00
EU COST Action Project (2024-2028) “An Evolutionary View to Understanding Affective States across Species” European Commission 10-OCT-24 09-OCT-28
The role of early-life microbiome in sculpting stress-social physiology in zebrafish Enterprise Irl 23-JUN-23 22-JUN-25 €15,919.00

Contract Researchers

  Researcher Name Project Role Funding Body
Sauranil Guha SFI-IRC Pathway Project Postgraduate Researcher
Koushika Chandradekaran SFI-IRC Pathway Project Postgraduate Researcher

Book Chapters

  Year Publication
(2024) 'Germ-Free Animals: A Key Tool in Unraveling How the Microbiota Affects the Brain and Behavior'
Lynch, Caoimhe MK and Nagpal, Jatin and Luczynski, Pauline and Neufeld, Karen-Anne McVey and Dinan, Timothy G and Clarke, Gerard and Cryan, John F (2024) 'Germ-Free Animals: A Key Tool in Unraveling How the Microbiota Affects the Brain and Behavior' In: Academic Press. [Details]
(2022) 'Microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools: application for analyses of synaptic transmission and of neuronal network activity in behavior'
Bergs, Amelie and Henss, Thilo and Glock, Caspar and Nagpal, Jatin and Gottschalk, Alexander (2022) 'Microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools: application for analyses of synaptic transmission and of neuronal network activity in behavior' In: Springer US New York, NY. [Details]
(2017) 'From Synapse to Behavior: Optogenetic Tools for the Investigation of the Caenorhabditis elegans Nervous System'
Nagpal, Jatin (2017) 'From Synapse to Behavior: Optogenetic Tools for the Investigation of the Caenorhabditis elegans Nervous System' In: Cambridge University Press. [Details]
(2015) 'Microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools: application for analyses of synaptic transmission and of neuronal network activity in behavior'
Glock, Caspar and Nagpal, Jatin and Gottschalk, Alexander (2015) 'Microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools: application for analyses of synaptic transmission and of neuronal network activity in behavior' In: Humana Press, Totowa, NJ. [Details]

Peer Reviewed Journals

  Year Publication
(2024) 'Optogenetic induction of chronic glucocorticoid exposure in early-life leads to blunted stress-response in larval zebrafish'
Nagpal, Jatin and Eachus, Helen and Lityagina, Olga and Ryu, Soojin (2024) 'Optogenetic induction of chronic glucocorticoid exposure in early-life leads to blunted stress-response in larval zebrafish'. European Journal of Neuroscience, [Details]
(2023) 'Pesticide exposure and the microbiota-gut-brain axis'
Matsuzaki, Rie and Gunnigle, Eoin and Geissen, Violette and Clarke, Gerard and Nagpal, Jatin and Cryan, John F (2023) 'Pesticide exposure and the microbiota-gut-brain axis'. The ISME Journal, 17 (8):1153-1166 [Details]
(2022) 'Optogenetic tools for manipulation of cyclic nucleotides functionally coupled to cyclic nucleotide-gated channels'
Hen\ss (2022) 'Optogenetic tools for manipulation of cyclic nucleotides functionally coupled to cyclic nucleotide-gated channels'. British journal of pharmacology, 179 (11):2519-2537 [Details]
(2022) 'Microbial-derived metabolites induce actin cytoskeletal rearrangement and protect blood-brain barrier function'
Knox, Emily G and Aburto, Maria R and Tessier, Carmen and Nagpal, Jatin and Clarke, Gerard and O’Driscoll, Caitriona M and Cryan, John F (2022) 'Microbial-derived metabolites induce actin cytoskeletal rearrangement and protect blood-brain barrier function'. iscience, 25 (12) [Details]
(2021) 'Microbiota-brain interactions: Moving toward mechanisms in model organisms'
Nagpal, Jatin and Cryan, John F (2021) 'Microbiota-brain interactions: Moving toward mechanisms in model organisms'. Neuron, 109 (24):3930-3953 [Details]
(2021) 'Bistable photoswitch allows in vivo control of hematopoiesis'
Albert, Lea and Nagpal, Jatin and Steinchen, Wieland and Zhang, Lei and Werel, Laura and Djokovic, Nemanja and Ruzic, Dusan and Hoffarth, Malte and Xu, Jing and Kaspareit, Johanna and others (2021) 'Bistable photoswitch allows in vivo control of hematopoiesis'. ACS central science, 8 (1):57-66 [Details]
(2021) 'Host genetics, the microbiome \& behaviour—a ‘Holobiont’perspective'
Nagpal, Jatin and Cryan, John F (2021) 'Host genetics, the microbiome \& behaviour—a ‘Holobiont’perspective'. Cell Research, 31 (8):832-833 [Details]
(2021) 'Wrapping things up: recent developments in understanding the role of the microbiome in regulating myelination'
Lynch, Caoimhe MK and Nagpal, Jatin and Clarke, Gerard and Cryan, John F (2021) 'Wrapping things up: recent developments in understanding the role of the microbiome in regulating myelination'. Current Opinion in Physiology, 23 [Details]
(2019) 'Anatomy, development, and plasticity of the neurosecretory hypothalamus in zebrafish'
Nagpal, Jatin and Herget, Ulrich and Choi, Min K and Ryu, Soojin (2019) 'Anatomy, development, and plasticity of the neurosecretory hypothalamus in zebrafish'. Cell and tissue research, 375 :5-22 [Details]
(2019) 'Using a robust and sensitive GFP-based cGMP sensor for real-time imaging in intact Caenorhabditis elegans'
Woldemariam, Sarah and Nagpal, Jatin and Hill, Tyler and Li, Joy and Schneider, Martin W and Shankar, Raakhee and Futey, Mary and Varshney, Aruna and Ali, Nebat and Mitchell, Jordan and others (2019) 'Using a robust and sensitive GFP-based cGMP sensor for real-time imaging in intact Caenorhabditis elegans'. Genetics, 213 (1):59-77 [Details]
(2018) 'Food sensation modulates locomotion by dopamine and neuropeptide signaling in a distributed neuronal network'
Oranth, Alexandra and Schultheis, Christian and Tolstenkov, Oleg and Erbguth, Karen and Nagpal, Jatin and Hain, David and Brauner, Martin and Wabnig, Sebastian and Costa, Wagner Steuer and McWhirter, Rebecca D and others (2018) 'Food sensation modulates locomotion by dopamine and neuropeptide signaling in a distributed neuronal network'. Neuron, 100 (6):1414-1428 [Details]
(2016) 'Photoswitchable diacylglycerols enable optical control of protein kinase C'
Frank, James Allen and Yushchenko, Dmytro A and Hodson, David J and Lipstein, Noa and Nagpal, Jatin and Rutter, Guy A and Rhee, Jeong-Seop and Gottschalk, Alexander and Brose, Nils and Schultz, Carsten and others (2016) 'Photoswitchable diacylglycerols enable optical control of protein kinase C'. Nature chemical biology, 12 (9):755-762 [Details]
(2015) 'Erratum: Synthetic retinal analogs modify the spectral and kinetic characteristics of microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools'
AzimiHashemi, N and Erbguth, K and Vogt, A and Riemensperger, T and Rauch, E and Woodmansee, D and Nagpal, J and Brauner, M and Sheves, M and Fiala, A and others (2015) 'Erratum: Synthetic retinal analogs modify the spectral and kinetic characteristics of microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools'. Nature communications, 6 (1):1-1 [Details]
(2015) 'Optogenetic manipulation of cGMP in cells and animals by the tightly light-regulated guanylyl-cyclase opsin CyclOp'
Gao, Shiqiang and Nagpal, Jatin and Schneider, Martin W and Kozjak-Pavlovic, Vera and Nagel, Georg and Gottschalk, Alexander (2015) 'Optogenetic manipulation of cGMP in cells and animals by the tightly light-regulated guanylyl-cyclase opsin CyclOp'. Nature communications, 6 (1) [Details]
(2015) 'Cholinergic photopharmacology--controlling nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors with photoswitchable molecules'
Damijonaitis, Arunas and Broichhagen, Johannes and Laprell, Laura and Nagpal, Jatin and Bruegmann, Tobias and Sumser, Martin and Sasse, Philipp and Gottschalk, Alexander and Trauner, Dirk (2015) 'Cholinergic photopharmacology--controlling nicotinic and muscarinic acetylcholine receptors with photoswitchable molecules'. The FASEB Journal, 29 :933-5 [Details]
(2015) 'AzoCholine enables optical control of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in neural networks'
Damijonaitis, Arunas and Broichhagen, Johannes and Urushima, Tatsuya and Hu¨ll, Katharina and Nagpal, Jatin and Laprell, Laura and Scho¨nberger, Matthias and Woodmansee, David H and Rafiq, Amir and Sumser, Martin P and others (2015) 'AzoCholine enables optical control of alpha 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in neural networks'. ACS chemical neuroscience, 6 (5):701-707 [Details]
(2014) 'Synthetic retinal analogues modify the spectral and kinetic characteristics of microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools'
AzimiHashemi, N and Erbguth, K and Vogt, A and Riemensperger, Thomas and Rauch, Elke and Woodmansee, D and Nagpal, J and Brauner, Martin and Sheves, Mordechai and Fiala, Andre and others (2014) 'Synthetic retinal analogues modify the spectral and kinetic characteristics of microbial rhodopsin optogenetic tools'. Nature communications, 5 (1) [Details]

Other Journals

  Year Publication
(2023) 'Germ-Free Tool Microbiota in Unraveling Affects Animals: How the A Key the Brain and Behavior'
Lynch, Caoimhe MK and Nagpal, Jatin and Luczynski, Pauline and Neufeld, Karen-Anne McVey and Dinan, Timothy G and Clarke, Gerard and Cryan, John F (2023) 'Germ-Free Tool Microbiota in Unraveling Affects Animals: How the A Key the Brain and Behavior' The Gut-Brain Axis: Dietary, Probiotic, and Prebiotic Interventions on the Microbiota, . [Details]
(2022) 'Optogenetic induction of chronic glucocorticoid exposure in early-life impairs stress-response in larval zebrafish'
Nagpal, Jatin and Eachus, Helen and Lityagina, Olga and Ryu, Soojin (2022) 'Optogenetic induction of chronic glucocorticoid exposure in early-life impairs stress-response in larval zebrafish' bioRxiv, :2022-09. [Details]
(2018) 'Robust and sensitive GFP-based cGMP sensor for real time imaging in intact Caenorhabditis elegans'
Woldemariam, Sarah and Nagpal, Jatin and Li, Joy and Schneider, Martin W and Shankar, Raakhee and Futey, Mary and Varshney, Aruna and Andersen, Kristine and Barsi-Rhyne, Benjamin and Tran, Alan and others (2018) 'Robust and sensitive GFP-based cGMP sensor for real time imaging in intact Caenorhabditis elegans' bioRxiv, . [Details]
(2013) 'Continuous Dynamic Photostimulation-inducing in-vivo-like fluctuating conductances with Channelrhodopsins'
Neef, Andreas and Hady, Ahmed El and Nagpal, Jatin and Br\"oking, Kai and Afshar, Ghazaleh and Schl\"uter, Oliver M and Geisel, Theo and Bamberg, Ernst and Fleischmann, Ragnar and St\"uhmer, Walter and others (2013) 'Continuous Dynamic Photostimulation-inducing in-vivo-like fluctuating conductances with Channelrhodopsins' arXiv preprint arXiv:1305.7125, . [Details]

Conference Publications

  Year Publication
(2011) Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: BC11: Computational Neuroscience \& Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference \& Neurex Annual Meeting
Neef, A and ElHady, A and Nagpal, J and Broking, K and Afshar, G and Geisel, T and Bamberg, E and Fleischmann, R and St\"uhmer, W and Wolf, F (2011) Continuous Dynamic Photostimulation-inducing defined, in-vivo-like fluctuating stimuli with Channelrhodopsins Front. Comput. Neurosci. Conference Abstract: BC11: Computational Neuroscience \& Neurotechnology Bernstein Conference \& Neurex Annual Meeting [Details]

Honours and Awards

  Year Title Awarding Body
2024 SFI-IRC Pathway Research Grant Award SFI-IRC (Research Ireland)
2024 APC Future Leaders Award APC Microbiome Ireland
2022 APC Microbiome Ireland Education and Public Engagement Champion APC Microbiome Ireland
2020 IRC Govt of Ireland Postdoctoral Fellowship Award IRC

Professional Associations

  Association Function From / To
COST Action CA23106 - An Evolutionary View to Understanding Affective States across Species (AFFECT-EVO) Member, Management Committee 10-OCT-24 /
COST Action CA23106 - An Evolutionary View to Understanding Affective States across Species (AFFECT-EVO) and Science Communication Coordinator (Member, Leadership Team) 20-FEB-25 /
UCC Race Equality Network Co-chair 10-OCT-23 /

Committees

  Committee Function From / To
UCC Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion (EDI) Subcommittee of the University Leadership Team (ULT) Member 2025 /
UCC Academic Council Research & Innovation Committee ACRIC Member 2025 /
UCC Academic Council Member 2024 /
School of Pharmacy, UCC, EDI Committee Member 2024 /
UCC Athena Swan Working Group Member 2024 /
APC Microbiome Ireland EDI Committee Member 2023 /
UCC Equality Committee Member 2023 / 2024
UCC Animal Experimentation Ethics Committee Member 2023 /
School of Pharmacy, UCC, Social Research Ethics Committee Member 2022 / 2023
School of Pharmacy, UCC, Teaching and Learning Committee Member 2022 /

Education

  Year Institution Qualification Subject
2008 University of Delhi,India BSc (Honors) Biochemistry Biochemistry
2016 University of Frankfurt, Germany PhD Biochemistry and Neuroscience
2010 University of Göttingen, Germany and International Max Planck Research School MSc Neuroscience Neuroscience

Journal Activities

  Journal Role To / From
Nature Communications Referee -
International Society For Microbial Ecology (Isme) Journal Referee -
Msystems Referee -
Behavioural Pharmacology Referee -
Brain Behav Immun Referee -
Pharmacological Research Referee -
Iscience Referee -
Scientific Reports Referee -
International Microbiology Referee -
Neuropharmacology Referee -
Behavioral Brain Research Referee -

Teaching Interests

Since joining UCC as a Lecturer, Lecturer above the bar & now in my substantive role, I have taught and examined in UG and PG modules across 7 programmes (MPharm/BPharm, MSc Pharmaceutical Technology & Quality Systems MSCPTQ, MSc Industrial Pharmaceutical Sciences Operations & Management MSCIPS, BSc Sciences, BSc Med Health Sci., MRes Industrial Pharmaceutics). I have supervised 8 master’s theses from MSCIPS, graduated a visiting research master’s student (EPFL Lausanne) and I currently supervise 2 PhD students and 1 MRes student.

Module coordinated:
PT2448
PT6401
PT3001
PT4024

Modules taught:
 PT1445   PT2448   FM2003/PT2201   PF2011   GN2001   PT3001   PF3009   PF3012   PT4005   PF4014   PT4024   PF4016   MH4010   AN4014   AN4011   APC Summer Student   Postgraduate Teaching PF6037   PF6040   PT6401   PF6036-MSc theses   PF6421-MPharm theses  

Internal Collaborators

  Name Institute Country
Prof. John F Cryan
Dr. Jerry Reen
Prof. Gerard Clarke
Prof. Christian Waeber
Dr. Friederike Uhlig
Dr. Maria Rodriguez Aburto

External Collaborators

  Name Organisation / Institute Country
Prof. Soojin Ryu University of Exeter UNITED KINGDOM
Prof. David Lyons University of Edinburgh UNITED KINGDOM
Prof. Alexander Gottschalk University of Frankfurt GERMANY
Prof. John Rawls Duke University U.S.A.