MIT Researcher Explores Biological Mechanisms Behind Illness

Zuri Sullivan studies how the immune system communicates with the brain to generate changes in behavior and physiology during infection.

Feb. 21, 2026 at 8:12am

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Zuri Sullivan, a new assistant professor in the MIT Department of Biology and core member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, is studying the biological workings underlying illness. She is particularly interested in how the immune system communicates with the brain to generate changes in behavior and physiology, such as fever, loss of appetite, and changes in social interaction, during an infection.

Why it matters

Understanding the mechanisms behind sickness behaviors could lead to new treatments or interventions to help people better manage the symptoms of illnesses like the flu, COVID-19, and other respiratory infections.

The details

Sullivan's research focuses on bridging the dynamic immunological processes that occur at the cellular, tissue, and organismal scales. She is especially interested in the interaction between food, the immune system, and the brain, as well as changes in sleep and appetite during an infection. Sullivan wants to bring together different areas of biology to study organism-wide questions and is excited to collaborate with other labs at the Whitehead Institute that have complementary expertise in areas like molecular neuroscience and the mechanisms that generate torpor.

  • Sullivan recently joined the MIT Department of Biology and Whitehead Institute in 2026.

The players

Zuri Sullivan

A new assistant professor in the MIT Department of Biology and core member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research who studies the biological workings underlying illness.

Sebastian Lourido

A researcher whose lab Sullivan has been collaborating with to study how Toxoplasma gondii influences social behavior.

Siniša Hrvatin

A researcher whose lab at the Whitehead Institute is interested in the hypothalamus and the mechanisms that generate torpor, an area of interest for Sullivan's work.

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What they’re saying

“We can think of immunity in two ways: the antimicrobial programs that defend against a pathogen directly, and sickness, the altered organismal state that happens when we get an infection.”

— Zuri Sullivan, Assistant Professor, MIT Department of Biology

“Sickness itself arises from brain-immune system interaction. The immune system is talking to the brain, and then the brain has a system-wide impact on host defense via its ability to have top-down control of physiologic systems and behavior.”

— Zuri Sullivan, Assistant Professor, MIT Department of Biology

“I really want to bring together different areas of biology to think about organism-wide questions. The thing that's most important to me is people who are creative - I'd rather trainees come in with an interesting idea than a perfectly formed question within the bounds of what we already believe to be true.”

— Zuri Sullivan, Assistant Professor, MIT Department of Biology

What’s next

Sullivan plans to continue her collaborations with the Lourido and Hrvatin labs at the Whitehead Institute to further explore the mechanisms behind sickness behaviors.

The takeaway

By studying how the immune system communicates with the brain to generate changes in behavior and physiology during illness, Sullivan's research could lead to new insights and treatments for a wide range of respiratory and infectious diseases.