Moriel Zelikowsky
American neuroscientist
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Through Social behavior, Philosophy and Neuron
Early life and education
Zelikowsky was raised in Los Angeles and earned her bachelor's degree in Philosophy in 2006 from UCLA. Originally, Zelikowsky started out as a film major until she took a few metaphysics classes. After deciding she was more interested in tangible answers to questions such as "what is the brain?" or "how do we think?" that she asked during philosophy classes, she started taking neuropsychiatry classes and applied to P.h.D programs in Psychology. She joined the laboratory of Dr. Michael Fanselow at UCLA, which studies behavioral neuroscience, specifically fear learning and how fear memories are stored in the brain. Her thesis work showed that a dynamic circuit composed of the amygdala, hippocampus, and prefrontal cortex contributes to fear learning and extinction in a context-sensitive manner. Her work was published in the Journal of Neuroscience and was awarded the New York Academy of Sciences Cattell Award and the Gengerelli Distinguished Dissertation Award. She received her P.h.D in 2012.
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Career and research
After receiving her P.h.D, Zelikowsky worked a postdoctoral fellow in the lab of Dr. David J. Anderson in the Department of Biology and Biological Engineering at Caltech. Her work investigated how trauma and chronic stress are represented in the brain, and how neurons in these regions affect the impact of future stress on emotions and social behavior. Zelikowsky and colleagues in the Anderson lab identified a population of neuromodulators involved in stress regulation. In an interview with L'Oréal USA For Women in Science, Zelikowsky explained "The brain undergoes significant change following an intense emotional event, and these alterations in neural processing and dynamics give rise to maladaptive behaviors. It is my hope that my research will contribute to a global shift towards increased cellular precision in our approach towards the treatment of mental health disorders". A significant portion of this research focused specifically on social isolation and Tac2 and its influence on behavior. As a postdoctoral fellow, Zelikowsky was supported by multiple awards and fellowships, including the National Science Foundation, a NARSAD Young Investigator Award, a LOREAL for Women in Science Award, and a NIMH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award.
In the fall of 2019, Zelikowsky started her own lab at the University of Utah School of Medicine as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy. Research projects in the lab include prolonged social isolation, post traumatic stress disorder, the intersection or memory and social behavior, and stress and mating. Zelikowsky was recently awarded a 2020 Sloan Research Fellowship in recognition of "creativity, leadership, and achievements in research".
In addition to her research, Zelikowsky also founded a group called Women in Learning which aims to provide a way for students and postdoctoral fellows studying learning, behavior, memory, and the broader field of neuroscience to find support and guidance on the promotion of female researchers from notable women already established in the field.