Matt has a long-standing interest in how the brain becomes wired during development, and how errors in these processes can give rise to behavioral disturbances later in life. Matt was born and raised in New Orleans, was an undergrad at Brown University where he studied with Mark Bear, and completed his MD/PhD at Penn with Matthew Dalva (just summarized 30 years in one sentence). During residency in psychiatry at Penn, Matt began working with Amita Sehgal, using Drosophila to examine how sleep during early development coordinates proper wiring of the brain. Matt started his independent lab at Penn in 2015, working with super talented folks to study the regulation and function of sleep across the lifespan. He is also a practicing psychiatrist, running a Sleep Mental Health clinic.

Matt is lucky to have an awesome family and is home for dinner every night. As a unit, they break all known rules of good sleep hygiene.

Contact: kayser@pennmedicine.upenn.edu