Halassa is an Associate Professor at MIT in the Department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. He has been studying thalamic function since his postdoctoral training. His early work focused on the thalamic reticular nucleus and its role in regulating sensory processing and attention. His current focus is on the mediodorsal thalamus and its interactions with prefrontal cortex. Halassa is a practicing psychiatrist with a goal of connecting basic animal research with application to schizophrenia treatment.