Faculty
If you are a prospective graduate student interested in working with a faculty member, please contact them directly to find out if they are currently recruiting students.
Emily Ansell
Professor of Biobehavioral Health
Advancing research surrounding stress and addiction.
Paul Bartell
Associate Professor of Avian Biology
The regulation of biological clocks in birds at the systems level.
Roger Beaty
Associate Professor of Psychology
The cognitive neuroscience of creative thinking and problem solving.
Orfeu Buxton
Elizabeth Fenton Susman Professor of Biobehavioral Health
The causes of chronic sleep deficiency in the workplace, home, and society; the health consequences of chronic sleep deficiency, especially cardiometabolic outcomes, and the physiologic and social mechanisms by which these outcomes arise. Successful aging is a central focus of this work. Ongoing interdisciplinary human studies involve sleep loss, aging, and insomnia, as well as health disparities.
Laura Cabrera
Huck Early Career Chair in Neuroethics; Associate Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics
The ethical and societal implications of neurotechnologies used for treatment as well as for enhancement purposes.
Sonia Cavigelli
Chair, Intercollege Graduate Degree Program in Neuroscience; Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health
Development of temperament/personality; relationship of temperament and social status to stress and health; individual differences in stress and health in the natural environment.
Eric Claus
Associate Professor of Biobehavioral Health
Identifying neural and cognitive mechanisms that support behavior change in substance use disorders.
Nikki Crowley
Director, Neuroscience Institute – University Park; Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology & Neural Engineering; Associate Professor of Biology; Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering; Associate Director for Postdoctoral Training and Leadership, Center for Neural Engineering
Investigation of peptidergic transmission throughout the brain, using cell-specific and pathway-specific manipulations to understand how peptides alter neuronal signaling and behavior, particularly in the context of stress and drug use.
Nancy Dennis
Professor of Psychology
The cognitive and neural mechanisms that support learning and memory in young and older adults.
Patrick Drew
Associate Director, Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences; Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, of Neurosurgery, of Biology, and of Biomedical Engineering
Optical imaging of brain dynamics during sleep and behavior; Role of blood flow and cerebrospinal fluid movement in neurodegenerative disease
Chris Engeland
Professor of Biobehavioral Health and Nursing
How stress, age, gender, and hormones affect inflammation / health. Biomarker feasibility for predicting health outcomes.
Nicole Etter
Assistant Professor of Health and Human Development
The relationship between tactile sensation and skilled oral behaviors (e.g. speech and swallowing) in healthy young, aging, and clinical populations.
Lisa Gatzke-Kopp
Professor of Human Development and Family Studies
Developmental neuroscience of psychopathology with a focus on aggression, hyperactivity, and substance abuse; relationship between experience, environment, and neurobiological dysfunction.
Santhosh Girirajan
Professor of Genomics; Professor of Anthropology; Department Head of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology
Understanding the genetic basis of neurodevelopmental disorders.
Bruce Gluckman
Director of the Center for Neural Engineering; Professor of Engineering Science and Mechanics, of Neurosurgery, and of Biomedical Engineering
The dynamics of neural systems, how group dynamics form or emerge from the coupled dynamics of individual units, and how to measure and interact with these systems.
Thomas Gould
Jean Phillips Shibley Professor and Department Head of Biobehavioral Health
Using genetic, pharmacological, behavioral, and molecular biological techniques to study the neurobiology of learning and memory and the effects of addiction on it.
Joshua Gross
Assistant Professor of Nutrition and Biobehavioral Health
Cellular- and transgenic mouse model-based approaches to investigate the molecular mechanisms of G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling and trafficking in the pathophysiological contexts of obesity, eating disorders, and metabolic disease.
John Hayes
Professor of Food Science; Director, Sensory Evaluation Center
Perception of taste, smell and chemesthesis; eating behavior; individual differences in sensation and food preferences; COVID related anosmia
Frank Hillary
Associate Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry and Neurology
Effects of brain injury and disease on functional brain organization; EEG and MRI-based examination of neuroplasticity in healthy and disrupted neural systems, including traumatic brain injury and multiple sclerosis.