During her time in the Pharmacology department, Julie’s research has been broadly focused on understanding how reward centers of the brain drive feeding and how these centers and associated behaviors are changed after exposure to high fat or high sugar diets. She has had a variety of projects including assessing effects of intra-nucleus accumbens insulin on the motivation for food, determining whether palatable junk food diets alter stress susceptibility, and assessing how sex contributes to high fat diet-induced inflammation in the nucleus accumbens and plasma. One of her most laborious tasks has been to develop, characterize, and apply a novel model of behavioral economics in which rats respond for liquid reinforcers like sucrose. She has been highly productive and will be leaving the university with five first author manuscripts, one review, and several poster and oral presentations at local, national, and international conferences.

In her new role at the Jacobs School of Medicine at the University of Buffalo, she will be able to foster her passion and interest for teaching at the undergraduate, graduate, and professional levels. While teaching will be her primary focus, she is not entirely stepping away from the bench. Rather, she will continue conducting research in collaboration with a variety of colleagues at UB as it is her hope to continue to be an active member in the research community.

Congratulations, Julie!