Alexei Morozov

Alexei Morozov, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the Fralin Biomedical Research Institute at Virginia Tech Carilion (VTC) and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine in the Virginia Tech School of Medicine. His research focuses on the neural mechanisms of social behavior, empathy, and fear, using rodent models to investigate how brain circuits control normal and pathological behaviors relevant to psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Morozov's research interests center on the neuronal substrates of social behaviors and empathy. His laboratory studies how animals share emotional states through social cues, with particular focus on the communication between the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) and the amygdala. His work investigates two primary mouse models: an emotional trauma model induced by observation of suffering in cage-mates, and a genetically induced model of psychopathy with attenuated empathy-like behaviors. His research has revealed how emotional distress increases NMDA-receptor function in the amygdala input from the ACC, and how altered hippocampal oscillatory activity relates to psychopathic traits.

Analysis of Dr. Morozov's recent publications shows a strong focus on neural circuits underlying social fear transmission, with particular emphasis on sex differences, stress interactions, and the role of specific brain regions like the ventral hippocampus and prefrontal-amygdala pathway. His work bridges molecular neuroscience with behavioral outcomes, examining how circuit-level changes translate to observable social behaviors.

• Graduate College Fellowship, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1993-1996
• Dorothea H. Fleming Student Research Fund Award, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1993-1995
• Certificate of Merit for Outstanding Student Research Presentation, Eleventh Annual Molecular Biology Retreat, University of Illinois at Chicago, 1994

Dr. Morozov leads the Morozov Laboratory at Virginia Tech, where his team employs advanced techniques including genetic mouse models, optogenetics, and behavioral analysis to investigate the neural basis of empathy and social behavior. His research has significant implications for understanding and treating psychiatric conditions including post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, psychopathy, autism, and schizophrenia. Current work focuses on establishing causal links between specific neural circuit alterations and behavioral symptoms of emotional trauma and psychopathy.