The Giardino Lab of Circuits & Systems Neuroscience in Stanford's Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences is currently accepting applicants for researchers at all levels of experience. We aim to decipher the neural mechanisms underlying psychiatric conditions of stress, addiction, and sleep disturbances. Our work uses genetic, pharmacological, physiological, anatomical, optical, and computational approaches in freely-behaving mice to monitor, manipulate, and map the neural circuits, synapses, and signaling mechanisms driving approach/avoidance behaviors, drug-seeking, food intake, social interactions, sleep/wake cycles, and other arousal states.

Research Topics:

• Stress & Reward
• Alcohol Addiction
• Sex Differences
• Wakefulness/Arousal
• Neuropeptide Release & Signaling
• Feeding & Metabolism

Research Approaches:

• Neuromodulation (optogenetics, chemogenetics)
• Neurophysiological recordings (fiber photometry, calcium imaging, EEG/EMG)
• Neurogenetics (CRISPR/Cas9 editing, Cre/loxP recombination, viral gene transfer, mouse genetics)
• Neuroanatomy (circuit tracing, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, confocal & light sheet microscopy)
• Neuropharmacology (alcohol & drug self-administration, receptor mechanisms)
• Computation (neural circuit modeling, machine learning analysis of behavioral & physiological datasets)
• Behavior and Evolution (rodent model organisms, cross-species comparisons)
• Translation (interdisciplinary and clinical collaborations, mental health treatment development)