Current Position:
Assistant Professor, Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology
Institution:
University of Maryland School of Medicine (Previously at Mount Sinai School of Medicine)
Discipline:
Neuroscience
Recognized for: Her research on the role played bymedium spiny neurons- MSNs in drug abuse and depression
Areas of research interest and expertise: Molecular neuroscience, neuroepigenetics, psychiatric disease, behavioral neuroscience
Biography:
Dr. Lobo studies the distinct functional and geneticroles played by the two major subtypes of striatal neurons (medium spiny neurons- MSNs), and their converging basal ganglia and mesolimbic reward circuits, in mental illness. These two neurons are known to play opposing but balanced roles through their circuitry in the normal central nervous system. However, these circuits become dysfunctional and imbalanced in psychiatric diseases and neurological disorders including drug abuse and depression. Dr. Lobo’s lab investigates how these two neurons contribute to drug abuse and depression on a functional and molecular level and how each MSN influences downstream brain regions, also on a functional and molecular level in these diseases.
To investigate how these two neurons function in drug abuse and depression in the heterogeneous central nervous system Dr. Lobo and her team employ cutting edge cell-type and circuit selective techniques. They use optogenetic tools to selectively activate or inhibit either MSN subtype with optics to determine their selective roles in drug abuse or depression related behaviors. This is complimented with cell-type selective gene expression and epigenetic profiling to determine selective molecular adaptations in the two MSNs in psychiatric disease.
Her studies are beginning to unravel critical molecules in each MSN subtype that mediate the chronic and detrimental behaviors in drug abuse and depression, and will lead to a better understanding of the circuit wide effects of how these two neurons can influence downstream brain structures in these neuropsychiatric diseases. Through her research, Dr. Lobo and her team hope to find therapeutic candidate targets to treat these chronic mental illnesses.
"The long-term goal of my research is to uncover the underlying neurobiological mechanisms that mediate mental illnesses. Increased understanding of these neurobiological mechanisms can hopefully diminish the social stigma associated with mental illness and lead to new avenues of therapeutic treatment for these chronic, destructive diseases."
Key Publications:
Other Honors:
2006 UCLA Dr. Eva Mary Kavan Prize for excellence in research on the brain
2011 American College of Neuropsychopharmacology Travel Awardee
2013 Winter Conference on Brain Research Travel Awardee