Emily M. Parker, PhD completed her doctoral work in the laboratory of Robert Sweet, MD, in the Department of Psychiatry’s Translational Neuroscience Program, and in the CNUP program at the University of Pittsburgh. In the Sweet lab Emily elucidated how up and down expression of and sex differences in voltage-gated calcium channels impact dendritic spine morphology, density and dynamics in sensory cortex of mice. Emily has a long-term interest in molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying schizophrenia cognitive deficits, auditory dysfunction and pathogenesis; She worked in the laboratory of Brett Clementz at the University of Georgia as an undergraduate, and in the labs of Matthew Hoptman, PhD and Daniel Javitt, MD, PhD at the Nathan Kline Institute while completing her master’s degree at Columbia University. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Zuckerman Institute in collaboration with the Department of Psychiatry, Emily is jointly mentored by Joseph Gogos, MD PhD and Darcy Peterka, PhD. She primarily uses advanced and cutting-edge imaging techniques to study network function and dynamics in Gogos lab schizophrenia risk models (Setd1a haploinsufficient mice). Emily’s overall career goal is to elucidate mechanisms underlying the disease processes of schizophrenia and other psychosis spectrum disorders to improve therapeutics and decrease disease burden. She is passionate about increasing public awareness about mental health and decreasing stigma surrounding mental illness.
Postdoctoral Research Scientist