DULCIS lab
Neurotransmitter Plasticity
2015
2016
2017
2018
2019
2020
2021
Davide Dulcis, PhD
Dr. Dulcis is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD. He is a faculty member of the Neurosciences graduate program and the Center for Circadian Biology at UCSD. He received his B.S. from University of Cagliari (Italy) double majoring in Physiology and Biology. While earning his Ph.D. from University of Arizona in Neuroscience, he illustrated the role of neurotransmitters in cardiac function of neurogenic invertebrate hearts. During his post-doctoral training in Neurobiology at UCSD, he discovered that neurotransmitters can be respecified by sensory stimuli, with matching respecification of postsynaptic receptor expression and associated changes in behavior (Nature, 2008; Science, 2013; Neuron, 2017).
He joined the Department of Psychiatry at UCSD School of Medicine as Principal Investigator in 2015. Research projects in his laboratory implement an interdisciplinary approach to reveal activity-regulated mechanisms involved in neurotransmitter plasticity, which evolved to accommodate behaviors and that could provide new therapeutic strategies with translational applications in a number of neurological conditions including mood disorders (NPP 2018, JN 2020) & drug abuse (BPS 2019).
Ale Porcu, Ph.D.
​Sydney Goss, B.S.
Ale began her postdoc in 2016 and investigated photoperiod-dependent neurotransmitter plasticity of the SCN. Her findings were published in Science Advances in 2022. She is now assistant professor at the U. of South Carolina.
Sydney joined the Dulcis lab in 2021. She graduates from UCSD in 2022 with a major B.S. in Human Biology with Minor in Psychology.
After graduation, she was hired as lab manager while she applies to graduate school.
Esther Schrurs, M.S.
Esther joined the lab as a visiting scholar in 2015. Her work was included in an article on photoperiod-mediated somatostatin plasticity relevant to seasonal affective disorder.
Helene Chen, B.S.
Helene earned her B.S. in Biology at UCSD. In the Dulcis lab, she worked as the laboratory manager analyzing the effects of light on neurotransmitter plasticity during aging. In 2016 she was accepted at the Tulane School of Medicine.
Christiana Stark, B.S.
Christiana joined the lab in 2015. She contributed to the study on microRNA regulation of NT plasticity Neuron (2017).
In 2016 she was accepted at the Southern Illinois Univ SOM.
Adam McPherson, Ph.D.
Adam began his postdoc with a joint appointment in the Dulcis & Hnasko labs in December 2015. In 2016, he was awarded the T32 fellowship in Biological Psychiatry and Neuroscience.
Lily Luo, B.S.
Rory Pritchard, B.S.
After earning his B.S. in Psychology (Univ. Massachusetts), Rory joined the lab as lab manager in 2016. His work was published in JCN 2019.
Lily earned her B.S. in Human Biology and Psychology at UCSD in 2019. She contributed to a study on NT plasticity in stress-induced anhedonia (JN 2019).
Nandu Prakash, Ph.D.
Nandu joined the Dulcis lab in 2017 as a graduate student in Biology. His thesis on NT plasticity underlying stress-induced anhedonia was published in JN (2020). He earned his PhD on 8.30.2019.
Ben Romoli, PhD
Ben joined the Dulcis’ lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2015. His research focused on nicotine-induced NT plasticity BPS (2019) affecting behavior.
In 2019, he accepted a research position at Jackson laboratories.
Jessica Lai, M.S.
Jessica joined the Dulcis lab as a Biology Master student in 2016 She investigated the effects of nicotine exposure on dopamine plasticity (NRR 2020). She defended her Master thesis on 10.18.2018.
Nikki Keisler, B.S.
Nikki graduated in Biology at UCSD in 2020. She joined the lab in 2018. She contributed to a study on NT plasticity associated with stress-induced anhedonia (JN 2020).
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Anna Nilsson, B.S.
Anna graduated from UCSD in 2018. She joined the lab in 2020 and worked NT plasticity in the SCN (BioRxiv).
In 2021, she was accepted into a graduate program at the University of Hawaii.
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