I am currently using the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (which has a stereotyped, well characterized nervous system) as a model for studying the mechanisms of cellular and behavioral plasticity. Ongoing studies involve applying genomic approaches to decipher the molecular components of axonal regeneration as well as long-term associative olfactory memory in C. elegans. My previous work has uncovered mechanisms of axonal pathfinding in zebrafish and mouse embryos. I have also performed gene-expression studies in the mammalian brain in the context of development as well as seizure treatment.  

Lakhina V*, Arey R*, Kaletsky R.L*, Kauffman A. L*, Stein G, Keyes W, Xu D, MurphyC.T, Genome-wide functional analysis of CREB/long-term memory-dependenttranscription reveals distinct basal and memory gene expression programs Neuron, in press, *equal contributors

Lakhina V, Subramanian L, Huilgol D, Shetty A.S, Vaidya V.A, Tole S, Seizure evoked regulation of LIM-HD genesand co-factors in the postnatal and adult hippocampus (2013) [v1; refstatus: indexed, http://f1000r.es/1d0] F1000Research, 2:205 (doi:10.12688/f1000research.2-205.v1)

Lakhina V, MarcaccioC.L, Shao X, Lush M.E, Jain R.A, Fujimoto, E, Bonkowsky J.L, Granato M, RaperJ.A, Netrin/DCC signaling guidesolfactory sensory axons to their correct location in the olfactory bulb(2012) Journal of Neuroscience, 32 (13):4440-4456

Lakhina V, FalnikarA, Bhatnagar L, Tole S, Early thalamocortical tract guidance andtopographic sorting of thalamic projections requires LIM-homeodomain gene Lhx2 (2007) Developmental Biology,306(2):703-13

Bansal R, Lakhina V, Remedios R, Tole S, Expressionof FGF Receptors 1, 2, 3 in theEmbryonic and Postnatal Mouse Brain compared with PDGFRALPHA,Olig2 andPLP/DM20: Implications for OligodendrocyteDevelopment (2003) Developmental Neuroscience, 25(2-4):83-95

Lakhina V, Padmanabhan H, Subramanian L, Tole S, Role of LIM-HD genes in the specification ofcell identity (2003) Proceedings of the Indian National Science Academy, B69(5):803-824