Nikki Crowley

Director, Neuroscience Institute – University Park; Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology & Neural Engineering; Assistant Professor of Biology and Biomedical Engineering; Associate Director for Postdoctoral Training and Leadership, Center for Neural Engineering

Nikki Crowley

Research Summary

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.

Huck Graduate Students

Huck Affiliations

Links

Most Recent Publications

Avery R. Sicher, Andrea Liss, Valentina Vozella, Paige Marsland, Laurel R. Seemiller, Matthew Springer, William D. Starnes, Keith R. Griffith, Grace C. Smith, Amy Astefanous, Terrence Deak, Marisa Roberto, Florence P. Varodayan, Nicole A. Crowley, 2024, Addiction Neuroscience

D Brockway, Nicole Crowley, 2024, Alcohol (Fayetteville, N.Y.) on p. 103-114

Laurel R. Seemiller, Julio Flores-Cuadra, Keith R. Griffith, Grace C. Smith, Nicole A. Crowley, 2024, Neurobiology of Stress

Binge drinking is a growing public health crisis − a neurobiologist explains how research on alcohol use disorder has shifted

Nicole Crowley, 2024, The conversation

D Brockway, K Griffith, C Aloimonos, T Clarity, J Moyer, G Smith, N Dao, M Hossain, Patrick Drew, J Gordon, D Kupferschmidt, Nicole A. Crowley, 2023, Cell Reports on p. 112976

Avery R. Sicher, William D. Starnes, Keith R. Griffith, Nigel C. Dao, Grace C. Smith, Dakota F. Brockway, Nicole A. Crowley, 2023, Neuropharmacology

Rebecca Fleeman, A Snyder, M Kuhn, D Chan, G Smith, Nicole Crowley, Amy Arnold, Elizabeth Proctor, 2022, Neurobiology of Aging on p. 154-169

Keith R. Griffith, Nicole A. Crowley, 2022, Neuropsychopharmacology on p. 2175-2176

Malini Suresh Nair, Nigel C. Dao, Daniela Lopez Melean, Keith R. Griffith, W. David Starnes, J. Brody Moyer, Avery R. Sicher, Dakota F. Brockway, Kathleen D. Meeks, Nicole A. Crowley, 2022, Journal of Electrophysiological Techniques on p. 38-46

Nikki Crowley*, Nicole A. Crowley, Scott Medina*, 2022, Neuropsychopharmacology on p. 253-254

Most-Cited Papers

Eyal Vardy, J. Elliott Robinson, Chia Li, Reid H.J. Olsen, Jeffrey F. DiBerto, Patrick M. Giguere, Flori M. Sassano, Xi Ping Huang, Hu Zhu, Daniel J. Urban, Kate L. White, Joseph E. Rittiner, Nicole A. Crowley, Kristen E. Pleil, Christopher M. Mazzone, Philip D. Mosier, Juan Song, Thomas L. Kash, C. J. Malanga, Michael J. Krashes, Bryan L. Roth, 2015, Neuron on p. 936-946

Ream Al-Hasani, Jordan G. McCall, Gunchul Shin, Adrian M. Gomez, Gavin P. Schmitz, Julio M. Bernardi, Chang O. Pyo, Sung Il Park, Catherine M. Marcinkiewcz, Nicole A. Crowley, Michael J. Krashes, Bradford B. Lowell, Thomas L. Kash, John A. Rogers, Michael R. Bruchas, 2015, Neuron on p. 1063-1077

Loukia Parisiadou, Jia Yu, Carmelo Sgobio, Chengsong Xie, Guoxiang Liu, Lixin Sun, Xing Long Gu, Xian Lin, Nicole A. Crowley, David M. Lovinger, Huaibin Cai, 2014, Nature Neuroscience on p. 367-376

Kristen E. Pleil, Emily G. Lowery-Gionta, Nicole A. Crowley, Chia Li, Catherine A. Marcinkiewcz, Jamie H. Rose, Nora M. McCall, Antoniette M. Maldonado-Devincci, A. Leslie Morrow, Sara R. Jones, Thomas L. Kash, 2015, Neuropharmacology on p. 735-749

Nicole A. Crowley, Daniel W. Bloodgood, J. Andrew Hardaway, Alexis M. Kendra, Jordan G. McCall, Ream Al-Hasani, Nora M. McCall, Waylin Yu, Zachary L. Schools, Michael J. Krashes, Bradford B. Lowell, Jennifer L. Whistler, Michael R. Bruchas, Thomas L. Kash, 2016, Cell Reports on p. 2774-2783

Nicole A. Crowley, Thomas L. Kash, 2015, Progress in Neuro-Psychopharmacology and Biological Psychiatry on p. 51-60

Thomas L. Kash, Kristen E. Pleil, Catherine A. Marcinkiewcz, Emily G. Lowery-Gionta, Nicole Crowley, Christopher Mazzone, Jonathan Sugam, J. Andrew Hardaway, Zoe A. McElligott, 2015, Molecules and Cells on p. 1-13

María Luisa Torruella-Suárez, Jessica R. Vandenberg, Elizabeth S. Cogan, Gregory J. Tipton, Adonay Teklezghi, Kedar Dange, Gunjan K. Patel, Jenna A. McHenry, J. Andrew Hardaway, Pranish A. Kantak, Nicole A. Crowley, Jeffrey F. DiBerto, Sara P. Faccidomo, Clyde W. Hodge, Garret D. Stuber, Zoé A. McElligott, 2020, Journal of Neuroscience on p. 632-647

Sophie Masneuf, Emily Lowery-Gionta, Giovanni Colacicco, Kristen E. Pleil, Chia Li, Nicole Crowley, Shaun Flynn, Andrew Holmes, Thomas Kash, 2014, Neuropharmacology on p. 190-197

Emily G. Lowery-Gionta, Nicole A. Crowley, Olena Bukalo, Shana Silverstein, Andrew Holmes, Thomas Louis Kash, 2018, Neuropharmacology on p. 68-75

News Articles Featuring Nikki Crowley

How Binge Drinking Shifted Research On Alcohol Use Disorders

Roughly 1 in 5 U.S. adults report binge drinking at least once a week.

Nikki Crowley named director of Neuroscience Institute at University Park

Nikki Crowley, assistant professor of biology and of biomedical engineering and Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology and Neural Engineering, has been named director of the Penn State Neuroscience Institute at University Park.

Binge drinking is a growing public health crisis − a neurobiologist explains how research on alcohol use disorder has shifted

With the new Amy Winehouse biopic “Back to Black” in U.S. theaters as of May 17, 2024, the late singer’s relationship with alcohol and drugs is under scrutiny again. In July 2011, Winehouse was found dead in her flat in north London from “death by misadventure” at the age of 27. That’s the official British term used for accidental death caused by a voluntary risk.

Neuroscientists Warn of 'Cascading' Alzheimer's Risk From These Two Habits

Two common habits could be putting you at an increased risk of Alzheimer's and related dementias, neuroscientists have warned.

Biology postdoc awarded National Institutes of Health fellowship

Laurel Seemiller, a postdoctoral scholar in biology at Penn State, has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Heard on campus: Nikki Crowley on 30 years of neuroscience advances

Nikki Crowley recently spoke at the Ashtekar Frontiers of Science, an annual public lecture series held by the Eberly College of Science, on 30 years of advances in cell signaling and neuroscience

Nikki Crowley honored with Women in STEAM Award by the Whitaker Center

Nikki Crowley, Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology and Neural Engineering and assistant professor of biology and of biomedical engineering, has been named among Women to Watch: Class of 2023 as part of the Whitaker Center for Science and the Arts’ Women in STEAM Awards.

Uncovering the role of somatostatin signaling in the brain

New research in mice demonstrates how the signaling molecule somatostatin acts to dampen neural circuits in the prefrontal cortex and stimulate exploratory behavior.

Mouse models of adolescent binge drinking reveal key long-lasting brain changes

Heavy alcohol consumption may cause permanent dysregulation of neurons, or brain cells, in adolescents, according to a new study in mice.

New Student Spotlight video highlights neuroscience's Avery Sicher

The latest entry in the Student Spotlight series from the Huck Institutes covers Avery Sicher, a graduate student in the Neuroscience Program, and her research on the effects of alcohol consumption on brain development.

Crowley receives Huck Early Career Chair appointment

Nikki Crowley, assistant professor of biology and biomedical engineering, has been named the Dorothy Foehr Huck and J. Lloyd Huck Early Career Chair in Neurobiology and Neural Engineering by the Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences.

New research on effects of binge drinking earns biologist early career award

Nikki Crowley, assistant professor of biology and biomedical engineering at Penn State, is the 2022 recipient of the Neuropsychopharmacology Editor’s Early Career Award.

Penn State biologist receives NIH grant to help unlock biology of binge drinking

Nikki Crowley, assistant professor of biology and of biomedical engineering at Penn State, has been awarded a five-year, $1.6 million grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, part of the National Institutes of Health, to study the neurobiology of binge alcohol drinking.

Neuroscience grad student awarded grant to study adolescent binge drinking

Avery Sicher, a graduate student in the neuroscience program at Penn State's Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, has received a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support her continued research. Sicher is one of few Huck students to receive this recognition.

First round of funded projects announced from the Benkovic Research Initiative

Four projects have been announced as recipients of funding from the Patricia and Stephen Benkovic Research Initiative, which supports risky, highly innovative investigation at the interface of chemistry and the life sciences.