Dr. GrachevaはUCSF Dr. David Juliusラボでポスドクをした後、Yale大学で独立しました。Juliusラボ在籍中に、毒ヘビが恒温動物の接近を感知するのはピット膜にある感覚神経終末に発現するTRPA1チャネルの低い温度での活性化によると報告して注目を浴びました（Nature 2010）。その後、2011年に吸血コウモリでは同じく温度感受性を有するカプサイシン受容体TRPV1のバリアントがピット組織で機能することを報告しました。Yale大学で独立してからは、冬眠動物の温度感知メカニズムの研究をしています。

概要
 Animals that tune their temperature sensitivity to the extreme provide unique model systems for dissecting molecular mechanism(s) by which thermosensory pathways adapt to environmental conditions. Mammalian hibernation is a fascinating phenomenon characterized by prolonged alternating periods of hypothermia (core body temperature drops from 37C to 2-4C) associated with unusual resistance of tissues to cold. The same environmental conditions are poorly tolerated by non-hibernating species. Humans and mice, for example, perceive cold as painful once ambient temperature drops below 15C. During hibernation, animals undergo repetitive cycles of torpor and arousal, accompanied by dramatic changes in core body temperature. Small obligate mammalian hibernators, such as the thirteen-lined ground squirrel (Ictidomys tridecemlineatus) can warm up their body from 2 to 37C within less than 2 hours, by employing shivering and non-shivering thermogenesis in muscular and brown adipose tissues, respectively. Remarkably, torpid animals retain some level of nervous system function, even as metabolic rates drop to 1 percent of euthermic levels and core body temperature approaches freezing. In addition to cold tolerance, thirteen-lined ground squirrels exhibit tolerance to heat. For example, thirteen-lined ground squirrels can raise their body temperature as high as 40-42C without showing signs of discomfort or distress. This phenomenon is referred to as extreme thermogenesis. Together with cold tolerance, extreme thermogenesis further highlights the unique adaptability of the thermoregulatory system of hibernators. Despite the robustness of these phenomena, fundamental questions about their cellular and molecular basis remain unanswered. We combined deep sequencing and differential transcriptomics paired with histological, biochemical, functional, and behavioral studies to understand cold and heat adaptations at the molecular, cellular and organismal levels. We already identified several strategies that hibernators use to support unique lifestyle.