Shelly Flagel

 portrait of Shelly Flagel
Professor of Psychiatry
Research Professor in Michigan Neuroscience Institute
Associate Director Academic Program, Neuroscience Graduate Program, Medical School
Professor of Psychology, College of Literature, Science, and the Arts
University of Michigan–Ann Arbor
Psychiatry/Michigan Neuroscience Institute
109 Zina Pitcher Place
Ann Arbor, Michigan 48109
Available to mentor
Shelly Flagel
portrait of Shelly Flagel
Research Professor
  • About
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  • Qualifications
  • Center Memberships
  • Research Overview
  • Recent Publications

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    • About

    I am a behavioral neuroscientist interested in the neural mechanisms that underlie maladaptive and psychopathological behaviors.

    Links
    • http://www.flagellab.com/

    Qualifications
    • Postdoctoral Research Fellow
      Molecular & Behavioral Neuroscience Institute, Psychiatry, Ann Arbor, United States
      2003 - 2007
      Postdoctoral Fellowship

    Center Memberships
    • Center Member
      Opioid Research Institute
    • Center Member
      Eisenberg Family Depression Center
    • Center Member
      Caswell Diabetes Institute

    Research Overview

    neuropsychopharmacology, addiction, impulse control disorders, animal models of psychiatric conditions, neural circuits, behavioral neuroscience, motivated behavior, reward learning

    Recent Publications

     See All Publications
    • Preprint
      Differential acquisition of cocaine and heroin self-administration in a rat model of internalizing versus externalizing temperament.
      Emery MA, Parsegian A, Koonse S, Hebda-Bauer EK, Lee K, Luma BD, Chang SE, Becker J, Flagel SB, Watson SJ, Akil H. 2026 Apr 13; DOI:10.64898/2026.04.09.717453
      PMID: 42039450
    • Journal Article
      Chronic semaglutide treatment enhances the incentive motivational value of a small food reward and associated cue in male and female rats.
      Chang SE, Turner CA, Pagán NM, Pereira D, Kleer S, Flagel SB. Psychopharmacology (Berl), 2026 Mar 23; DOI:10.1007/s00213-026-07045-4
      PMID: 41870532
    • Journal Article
      Correction: Bioenergetic-related gene expression in the hippocampus predicts internalizing vs. externalizing behavior in an animal model of temperament (Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, (2025), 18, (1469467), 10.3389/fnmol.2025.1469467)
      Hebda-Bauer EK, Hagenauer MH, Munro DB, Blandino P, Meng F, Arakawa K, Stead JDH, Chitre AS, Ozel AB, Mohammadi P, Watson SJ, Flagel SB, Li J, Palmer AA, Akil H. Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, 2026 Jan 1; 19: DOI:10.3389/fnmol.2026.1784625
    • Preprint
      Chronic semaglutide treatment enhances the incentive motivational value of a small food reward and associated cue in male and female rats.
      Chang SE, Turner CA, Pagán NM, Pereira D, Kleer S, Flagel SB. 2025 Dec 10; DOI:10.64898/2025.12.06.692775
      PMID: 41415399
    • Journal Article
      Genetic Loci Influencing Cue-Reactivity in Heterogeneous Stock Rats.
      King CP, Chitre AS, Leal-Gutiérrez JD, Tripi JA, Netzley AH, Horvath AP, Lamparelli AC, George A, Martin C, St Pierre CL, Missfeldt Sanches T, Bimschleger HV, Gao J, Cheng R, Nguyen K-M, Holl KL, Polesskaya O, Ishiwari K, Chen H, Robinson TE, Flagel SB, Solberg Woods LC, Palmer AA, Meyer PJ. Genes Brain Behav, 2025 Apr; 24 (2): e70018 DOI:10.1111/gbb.70018
      PMID: PMC11884905
    • Preprint
      Novel insights into the genetic architecture and mechanisms of host/microbiome interactions from a multi-cohort analysis of outbred laboratory rats.
      Tonnele H, Chen D, Morillo F, Garcia-Calleja J, Chitre AS, Johnson BB, Sanches TM, Bonder MJ, Gonzalez A, Kosciolek T, George AM, Han W, Holl K, Horvath A, Ishiwari K, King CP, Lamparelli AC, Martin CD, Martinez AG, Netzley AH, Tripi JA, Wang T, Bosch E, Doris PA, Stegle O, Chen H, Flagel SB, Meyer PJ, Richards JB, Robinson TE, Woods LCS, Polesskaya O, Knight R, Palmer AA, Baud A. 2025 Mar 27; DOI:10.1101/2025.03.20.644349
      PMID: 40166210
    • Journal Article
      Promoting Open Discussions of Scientific Failure within the Annual Society for Neuroscience Conference.
      Hagenauer MH, David Redish A, Schiller D, Bigos KL, Flagel S, Rodriguez A, Parker Z, O'Connor A, Ortiz-Gonzalez X, Murphy D, Leeson R, Community for Rigor . eNeuro, 2025 Mar; 12 (3): DOI:10.1523/ENEURO.0524-24.2024
      PMID: PMC11964288
    • Journal Article
      RatXcan: A framework for cross-species integration of genome-wide association and gene expression data.
      Santhanam N, Sanchez-Roige S, Mi S, Liang Y, Chitre AS, Munro D, Chen D, Gao J, Garcia-Martinez A, George AM, Gileta AF, Han W, Holl K, Hughson A, King CP, Lamparelli AC, Martin CD, Nyasimi F, St Pierre CL, Sumner S, Tripi J, Wang T, Chen H, Flagel S, Ishiwari K, Meyer P, Polesskaya O, Saba L, Solberg Woods LC, Palmer AA, Im HK. PLoS Genet, 2025 Mar; 21 (3): e1011583 DOI:10.1371/journal.pgen.1011583
      PMID: PMC12052193

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    Searching for the biology of mental illness

    For half a century, Michigan Medicine researchers have been working to understand why we feel the way we feel. Their findings have offered hope to patients with mental health conditions from anxiety and depression to addiction and bipolar disorder.