I am interested in delineating the functional neural circuitry underlying motivated behaviors using system neuroscience approaches, and assessing whether that circuitry is similarly recruited in males and females.

I received my doctorate in psychology with a concentration in neuroscience from Boston College. Under the direction of Dr. Gorica D. Petrovich, I completed a detailed investigation into the organization of connections between the amygdala, medial prefrontal cortex, and lateral hypothalamus, and assessed recruitment of this circuitry in behavioral paradigms of cue-modulated feeding.

For my postdoctoral research I investigated the activation of pathways to the mesocorticolimbic dopamine system, recruitment of vasopressinergic and oxytocinergic systems,  and the role of the orexin/hypocretin system during juvenile social play behavior, under the mentorship of Dr. Alexa H. Veenema at Michigan State University.