Gina Rochelle Poe

Gina Rochelle Poe is a Professor at UCLA's College of Letters and Science with joint appointments in Integrative Biology and Physiology, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Neurobiology. She previously held the Eleanor Leslie Chair in Innovative Brain Research (2022-2023). Her research program examines neural mechanisms of sleep, memory consolidation, and emotional processing, with particular focus on locus coeruleus function and hippocampal-neocortical interactions during sleep states.

Professor Poe's research investigates how sleep architecture supports memory optimization, neural plasticity, and emotional adaptation. Her work spans:

• Noradrenergic regulation of sleep-dependent memory processing
• Sex differences in sleep physiology and hormonal influences
• Stress-induced sleep alterations in PTSD models
• Hippocampal place cell dynamics during REM sleep
• Development of automated sleep monitoring technologies

Her publication trends reveal consistent focus on sleep neurophysiology (85% of articles), with increasing emphasis on translational applications in stress disorders since 2015. Recent work explores interspecies comparisons of noradrenergic systems (2024) and overnight neural plasticity mechanisms (2024).

Honors:

• Eleanor Leslie Chair in Innovative Brain Research (2022-2023)

Professor Poe leads multiple NIH-funded initiatives including:

• R01MH060670: REM Sleep and Memory (2000-2024)
• R25NS089462: Neuroscience Scholars Program (2014-2024)
• R21MH119020: Enhancing Non-REM Sleep Dynamics (2018-2021)

She mentors through UCLA's MARC U*STAR Program and directs a laboratory investigating sleep circuit functions.