Durafshan Sakeena Syed investigates how neural circuits control coordinated limb movements and enable transitions between actions. Using Drosophila as a model, she combines genetic screens, whole-brain connectomics, and high-resolution behavioral analysis to uncover the circuit logic that supports rhythmic actions and flexible motor sequences. Her work has revealed inhibitory premotor motifs that regulate rhythmic leg coordination during grooming and and revealed descending pathways that initiate distinct motor programs. She has led multiple projects, co-developed behavioral and connectomic pipelines, and mentored collaborative teams of undergraduate researchers analyzing large-scale datasets. Syed is currently investigating how behaviors transition from one action into another and the descending pathways that enable multitasking. Her long-term vision is to build a circuit-to-computation framework for multi-limb coordination and motor adaptability.