Beyond Lab Walls | Salk Institute

Kay Tye on social connection and FOMO

We've all heard that staying social is good for your health. But what's actually happening in the brain when you feel connected, or when you don't? In this special Beyond

Salk's Year of Brain Health: Nicola Allen on brain inflammation and lifelong cognitive health

When we think about brain health, we tend to think about neurons. But some of the most important work of protecting the brain may depend on immune and other cell types, w

Christian Metallo on metabolic health, aging, and Alzheimer's risk

In this special Beyond Lab Walls video podcast episode—part of the Salk Institute's 2026 Year of Brain Health—Salk President Gerald Joyce, MD, PhD, speaks with Christian

Salk's Year of Brain Health: Rusty Gage on exercise, cognition, and aging

What does it actually mean, biologically, when we say "exercise is good for your brain"? In this special Beyond Lab Walls video podcast episode—part of Salk's 2026 Year o

Igniting the spark with Salk Innovation and Collaboration Grants

At Salk, we encourage our scientists to ask, what if? And when they do, our Innovation and Collaboration Grants program provides the seed funding they need to pursue thei

Emily Manoogian sleeps, eats, and thrives with circadian rhythms in mind

Emily Manoogian, PhD, has made a career out of asking when. Manoogian is a chronobiologist—a fancy word for someone who studies circadian rhythms. As we go about our dail

Terrence Sejnowski chats chatbots and what we can learn at the intersection of AI and neuroscience

Terrence Sejnowski, PhD, is a professor, head of the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, and holder of the Francis Crick Chair at Salk, and he's played a hand in two e

What's next for GLP-1 weight loss drugs?

Salk scientist Christian Metallo, PhD, weighs in on the pros and cons of GLP-1 drugs and gives us a sneak peek into how metabolism research at Salk could inspire the next

Joseph Herdy talks zombie cells, selfish genes, and Alzheimer's disease

While you might not appreciate a shipment of live, wriggling lamprey, Joseph Herdy, PhD, will tell you the parasitic fish can actually teach us quite a bit about our own

Salk Institute: Live "Beyond Lab Walls" podcast episode

On October 30, 2025, at 9:00 a.m. PT/12:00 p.m. ET, the Salk Institute holds a special live, video edition of our Beyond Lab Walls podcast as we explore why science can't

Tony Hunter enters the archives to share 50 years of Salk stories and cancer discoveries

Tony Hunter, PhD, is a cancer biologist, professor, and holder of the Renato Dulbecco Chair at Salk. 2025 marks Hunter's 50th year at the Institute—a milestone that's app

Aksinya Derevyanko talks creative ties between dance and neuroscience

Aksinya Derevyanko is a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Nicola Allen's lab at Salk. For Derevyanko, recounting her journey from Russia to Spain to San Diego isn't ju

John Reynolds on how our brains can play tricks on us

What is my place in the universe? This question began Professor John Reynolds' introspective and philosophical journey into the world of neuroscience, where he now studie

Joseph Swift says we're more like plants than we think

Joseph Swift is a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Joseph Ecker's lab at Salk, but has recently launched his own start-up called CropDiagnostix. Inspired by his paren

Jeff Jones shares what we can learn from jellyfish about human aging

Jeff Jones is a staff scientist in the lab of Professor Rusty Gage. Jones' journey to science started on a dirt road in Florida and with a slew of questions about cancer.

Irene Lopéz Gutiérrez advocates for interdisciplinary Alzheimer's research

Beginning as a spark stirred by rainy day boredom in Galicia, Spain and encouraged by wanting to understand her grandfather's brain tumor, Irene Lopéz Gutiérrez became a

Getting to the root of Alzheimer's

Things are changing in Alzheimer's research. We've got new tools and new ideas, and we want you to know about them. To kick off Salk's "Year of Alzheimer's," hear how our

Kay Watt is harnessing plants to save the planet

Kay Watt was not a scientist when she arrived in the remote jungles of Panama, assigned to help coffee farmers protect their plants from environmental harm. When she retu

Daniel Hollern on B cells and breast cancer

"What are the things that cause cancer in people? Can we prevent cancer?" These are the questions Assistant Professor Daniel Hollern is asking in his research at Salk. Fr

Lara Labarta-Bajo explains how infections affect your brain

How can an infection in your lungs have such a lasting effect on your brain? Lara Labarta-Bajo, a postdoctoral researcher in Associate Professor Nicola Allen's lab, studi