Awarded in 2008
Home Department: Neurosciences
Faculty Advisor: Karl Deisseroth (Bioengineering, Psychiatry)

Research Title: Optogenetic tool development and application to dissecting dopaminergic circuitry in social behavior

Research Description: Elucidating the neurobiological basis of social behavior is critical to understanding normal human behavior and its dysregulation in psychiatric diseases like autism. Lisa studied the neural circuits involved in social behavior using light-activated microbial opsins that their lab had engineered for fast optical control of neural activity. These optogenetic tools provide high spatiotemporal resolution in probing the activity of specific cell types within large neuronal populations, which will help elucidate the basic circuit dynamics underlying this complex behavior.

WHERE IS SHE NOW?

Lisa is an adjunct professor in the counseling department at Palo Alto University.