[email protected]   

Dr. Iyer has over 14 years of experience in Drosophila genetics, as well as extensive experience in Drosophila models of synaptic transmission and neurological disorders. During her postdoctoral work she performed molecular and functional analyses to understand the genetic basis of neurodevelopmental disorders, such as autism, epilepsy, schizophrenia, and intellectual disability. Her current area of research is understanding the effect of spaceflight factors on central nervous system (CNS) using model organisms, such as Drosophila and mouse, and identifying countermeasures to mitigate these effects. In the MVP-Fly-01 mission (April 2018), she has been involved in the post-flight neurological studies to evaluate the effects of spaceflight on the nervous system of Drosophila. In the HRP grant with Dr. April Ronca, her work is focused on understanding the neuro-consequences of the spaceflight environment, using combined stressors of microgravity (hind-limb unloading), radiation, and isolation in the mouse model. In the spaceflight grant with Dr. Karen Ocorr, Dr. Nathaniel Szewczyk, Dr. Siddhita Mhatre and Dr. Sylvain Costes, she is studying the integrated physiological responses of CNS and muscle in D. melanogaster and C. elegans along a gravity continuum.