Memories powerfully influence future behavior and emotional responses. Dysfunction of memory processes, leading to either impaired or exaggerated memories, is central to a number of neurological and psychiatric disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder, phobias, and addiction.

My research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, and how modulation of these processes by events such as stress and illness cause altered memory storage, maintenance, or retrieval.

In the lab, we use behavioral models of learning and memory in mice, combined with analysis of levels/activity of specific proteins within the hippocampus, amygdala, and prefrontal cortex to study (1) the molecular mechanisms of memory storage and maintenance; (2) the modulation of memory by stress, illness, and inflammation; and (3) the role of memory dysregulation in disorders of emotion and motivation, including post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety, and depression.