Via his work on melanocortin receptors he became an expert in molecular and neural pathways underlying feeding behavior, obesity and eating disorders. His lab has a strong multidisciplinary character. A variety of strategies (pharmacogenetics, viral vector technology, in vivo electrophysiology, optogenetics and automated behavioral and physiological analysis) is used to unravel mechanism underlying behavior. The main focus is on feeding, since this is a natural behavior ideally suited to dissect neural circuits that underlie decision making, anxiety, anhedonia, impulsivity and reward seeking.