Michael A. Wheeler, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and an Investigator at Mass General Brigham, where he leads a research program in the Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation. Dr. Wheeler earned his BA in Neuroscience from Johns Hopkins University, his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Virginia, and completed postdoctoral training in neuroimmunology at Harvard Medical School and Mass General Brigham. His laboratory studies how the brain and immune system communicate to shape behavior, inflammation, and disease. By combining neuroscience, immunology, genomics, and new technologies developed in his lab, Dr. Wheeler’s team is uncovering how immune signals influence stress, motivation, addiction, depression, and neuroinflammatory disorders.

Dr. Wheeler’s work has been supported by multiple NIH awards and has led to major discoveries published in journals including Nature, Science, Cell, and Neuron. He has been recognized as a Clarivate Highly Cited Researcher, an Emerging Innovator in Precision Psychiatry, and a recipient of the American Association of Immunologists ASPIRE Award for outstanding early-career investigators. Through his research, mentorship, and technology development, Dr. Wheeler aims to create new therapeutic strategies for psychiatric, neurologic, and inflammatory diseases.