NATALE SCIOLINO, PHD
ASSISTANT PROFESSOR | DEPARTMENT OF PHYSIOLOGY & NEUROBIOLOGY
I completed my PhD in Neuroscience at the University of Georgia under the direction of two leading norepinphrine neurobiologists, Philip V. Holmes, PhD (UGA) and David Weinshenker, PhD (Emory) using in vivo microdialysis and behavior to study the noradrenergic-galanin system in anxiety and addiction. I then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship with Patricia Jensen, PhD at the NIH, where I used the latest advances in intersectional genetics, optical imaging, and electrophysiology to uncover a role for locus coeruleus (LC) norepinephrine neurons in regulating anxiety and feeding. I received an NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from NIDDK and joined the Department of Physiology & Neurobiology at UCONN in 2021.
My research group is focused on defining central noradrenergic circuits that regulate behavioral state. We are interested in noradrenergic circuits because norepinephrine (NE) signaling is known to be disrupted in neuropsychiatric and metabolic disorders. A significant obstacle to developing circuit-level insights of disease susceptibility will require better understanding of the distinct cell types and signaling mechanisms that underlie adaptive and maladaptive behavior.