2026 lecture series preview: From fruit flies to future cure with Dr. Martha Bhattacharya 

Fruit flies may be small, but for Dr. Martha Bhattacharya, they play an outsized role in advancing our understanding of how the brain responds to injury, disease, and stress. As part of the 2026 College of Science Lecture Series, Bhattacharya will explore how research in insects is revealing fundamental principles of brain biology and helping identify pathways that may one day inform treatment for human neurological disorders.

Bhattacharya's research centers on Drosophila melanogaster, the common fruit fly, a model organism that allows scientists to study the nervous system using powerful genetic tools. Although flies and humans may seem vastly different, they share many core biological processes. Neurons are not easily replaced once lost so understanding how they respond to injury and stress is critical. 

Much of her work focuses on how neurons respond to physical damage and disease related stress. In some cases, this stress is acute, such as nerve injury similar to sciatica, where damage occurs suddenly. In others, it develops slowly, as in neurodegenerative conditions, where misfolded proteins and cellular dysfunction build up over time. 

Despite these different timelines, neurons face a common challenge: adapting to survive without the ability to regenerate easily. 

“Most nervous systems have evolved to do whatever they can to keep neurons healthy,"  Bhattacharya said. 

Those challenges do not exist in a vacuum, Bhattacharya said, but are shaped by the environments animals live in and the pressures they face over time. 

“Our environment is not neutral when it comes to evolution,” she said. “It’s pushing evolution in certain directions and the animals experiencing that pressure have to figure out how to adapt, otherwise they don’t survive.” 

Using fruit flies, Bhattacharya’s lab has identified new genetic pathways involved in epilepsy and cancer, offering insight into how nervous systems protect themselves, or fail to, under stressful conditions. These discoveries help scientists understand broad mechanisms of neural resilience rather than isolated diseases.

Importantly, this research does not stop with insects. Bhattacharya’s lab also tests key findings in human cells, ensuring that discoveries made in flies translate to higher organisms. By carrying out this work within the same lab, her team is able to move more quickly from basic discovery toward potential medical relevance.

One area where this research may have more immediate impact is in understanding and preventing drug induced nerve damage, including the neurological side effects of some cancer treatments. Because the onset of this damage can often be predicted, there may be opportunities to intervene early with neuroprotective strategies. Slower developing disorders such as Alzheimer’s remain more challenging because sustained neuron loss often occurs before symptoms appear.

Bhattacharya hopes her lecture highlights the value of curiosity driven basic research. While the medical applications of fundamental science are not always immediately obvious, she emphasizes that asking open ended questions in simple systems often leads to the most meaningful breakthroughs for human health.

Dr. Bhattacharya will present this lecture as part of the 2026 Lecture Series on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, at 7:00 p.m. at Centennial Hall. To get free tickets to this year’s series, click here.