Michelle Mazei-Robison, PhD

Michelle graduated summa cum laude from Central Michigan University in 1999 with a BS in biology and chemistry. She then enrolled in graduate school at Vanderbilt University, where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Randy Blakely. Her thesis work identified novel mutations in the dopamine transporter gene in children with ADHD and investigated their influence on transporter function. She received her Ph.D. in pharmacology in 2005 and then joined the laboratory of Dr. Eric Nestler at the University of Texas-Southwestern in Dallas as a postdoctoral fellow in 2006. In the Nestler lab, Michelle studied neuroadaptations induced in dopamine neurons in the ventral tegmental area in mouse models of addiction and depression. She then joined Michigan State University as an assistant professor in the Department of Physiology and the Neuroscience Program in 2012. Her research program uses molecular, imaging, and behavioral techniques to identify and investigate molecular mechanisms that underlie neuropsychiatric disorders. Outside the lab she enjoys cooking; visiting new restaurants with her husband, A.J., a fellow neuroscientist; and trying to keep up with her two children, Max and Auden.