Carrie R Ferrario, PhD
Associate Professor of Pharmacology, Medical School
Associate Professor of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
[email protected]

Available to mentor

Carrie R Ferrario, PhD
Associate Professor
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  • Center Memberships
  • Research Overview
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    About

    The Ferrario lab integrates concepts from the addiction, learning, and feeding fields to ask new questions about the neurobiological and behavioral drivers of obesity vs. drug addiction. Specifically, we examine how alterations in glutamatergic transmission within the striatum contribute to normal and aberrant motivation. Our long-term goal is to understand how sugary, fatty foods and physiological changes accompanying obesity alter brain function and behavior, how individual susceptibility to obesity interacts with these effects, and how mechanisms underlying strong urges to eat may be similar to as well as different from those that drive abuse of addictive substances like cocaine.

    Dr. Ferrario is Co-Director of the Biology of Drug Abuse NIDA-funded Postdoctoral T32

    Dr. Ferrario is also a member of the following programs at the University of Michigan:
    Domino Addiction Research Center
    Neuroscience Graduate Program
    Neuroscience Innovators
    Multidisciplinary Training Program in Basic Diabetes Research
    NIDA Training Program in Neuroscience

    Links
    Qualifications
    • Postdoctoral Fellow
      University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, 2012
    • Postdoctoral Fellow
      Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, 2008
    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Caswell Diabetes Institute
    • Center Member
      MExperts-Opioid Research Institute
    Research Overview

    Neurobiology of motivation, obesity, addiction, glutamate plasticity, striatum

    Recent Publications See All Publications
    • Journal Article
      Voluntary food restriction does not affect circulating corticosterone in obesity-prone or -resistant male and female rats
      Finnell JE, Ferrario CR. Physiology and Behavior, 2024 Nov 7; 114729 - 114729. DOI:10.1016/j.physbeh.2024.114729
    • Journal Article
      Obesity- and Diet-induced Plasticity in Systems that Control Eating and Energy Balance
      Ferrario C, Münzberg H, Rinaman L, Betley JN, Borgland SL, Dus M, Fadool DA, Medler KF, Morton GJ, Sandoval DA, de La Serre CB, Stanley SA, Townsend KL, Watts AG, Maruvada P, Cummings D, Cooke B. Obesity, 2024 Jun 25; 32: 1425 - 1440. DOI:10.1002/oby.24060
    • Journal Article
      Quantifying social roles in multi-animal videos using subject-aware deep-learning
      Goss K, Bueno-Junior LS, Stangis K, Ardoin T, Carmon H, Zhou J, Satapathy R, Baker I, Jones-Tinsley CE, Lim MM, Watson BO, Sueur C, Ferrario CR, Murphy GG, Ye B, Hu Y. bioRxiv, 2024 Sep 30; DOI:10.1101/2024.07.07.602350
    • Presentation
      Effects of Junk-food diet consumption on nucleus accumbens function and motivation in males and female rats
      2024 Jun 25;
    • Presentation
      Neural processes driving over-eating
      2024 Jun 25;
    • Presentation
      Cocaine-induced sensitization and glutamate plasticity in the nucleus accumbens core: effects of sex
      2024 Jun 25;
    • Presentation
      Contributions of striatal glutamate plasticity to obesity
      2024 Jun 25;
    • Presentation
      Contributions of striatal glutamate plasticity to obesity
      2024 Jun 25;
    Featured News & Stories 2025 Dean's Lecture and Bold Science Symposium
    Medical School News
    2025 Dean’s Lecturer: GLP-1 therapies saving, improving lives of many patients
    Lives are being saved, and many others are being changed dramatically, by current GLP-1 therapies like tirzepatide, which has helped many patients treat type 2 diabetes and sleep apnea, and also lose weight. It has been a long road from bench research to clinical trials to the health care market, but patients are now benefitting more than ever, according to a leading scientist who served as the keynote speaker for the second annual Dean’s Lecture and Bold Science Symposium, “Metabolism Research from Bench to Bedside.” Daniel Skovronsky, M.D., Ph.D., chief scientific officer and executive vice president of science and technology at Eli Lilly and Company and president of Research Laboratories and Lilly Immunology, was the Dean’s Lecturer on April 14 at the North Campus Research Complex Dining Hall.
    Department News
    Dr. Carrie Ferrario featured in MM Health Lab
    Dr. Carrie Ferrario featured in Michigan Medicine Health Lab.
    Department News
    Congratulations to Dr. Carrie Ferrario
    Dr. Carrie R. Ferrario from the University of Michigan awarded the 2023 John J. Abel Award in Pharmacology.