Dr. Kutlu Kaya is a physiologist and neuroscientist and a Postdoctoral Associate in the Mood Disorders Research Program at Yale School of Medicine. His research examines brain metabolism and bioenergetics in mood disorders, especially bipolar disorder, with the goal of understanding how disruptions in energy production relate to mood pathology. A central focus of his work is the use of near-infrared spectroscopy, a non-invasive optical imaging technique, to measure changes in brain oxygen use and mitochondrial activity in real time. He combines this method with calibrated functional MRI and magnetic resonance spectroscopy to build a more complete picture of how the brain generates and uses energy in health and in mood disorders. This integrative approach connects his work to a broader tradition of brain energy metabolism research at Yale. Dr. Kaya's studies explore how inefficiencies in brain energy metabolism may serve as stable, trait-like features of bipolar disorder, as well as how certain metabolic changes become more pronounced during depressive episodes. His work also incorporates peripheral metabolic indicators, such as blood lactate levels, as complementary measures alongside brain-based findings, and he has an ongoing interest in low-cost, minimally invasive salivary markers of inflammation for future research protocols. Beyond his neuroimaging work, Dr. Kaya has strong methodological expertise in advanced analysis methodologies. Dr. Kaya earned his doctoral degrees in Physiology from Hacettepe University Faculty of Medicine. He completed his doctoral dissertation under the supervision of Dr. Maria Angela Franceschini at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, where he developed his expertise in optical brain imaging, and he continues to build his research program toward the goal of becoming an independent investigator in the field of brain bioenergetics and mood disorders.