J. Leigh Leasure

J. Leigh Leasure is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Houston, affiliated with the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. She directs the Brain Health & Plasticity Lab, focusing on developmental, cognitive, and behavioral neuroscience. Her work investigates exercise-driven neuroplasticity, binge alcohol effects on brain/behavior, and alcohol use disorder interventions.

Leasure holds a Ph.D. from the University of Texas at Austin. Her research bridges basic science and translational studies, employing rodent models and human behavioral assessments. Notable contributions include identifying exercise as a neuroprotective strategy against alcohol-induced damage and developing novel object recognition tasks for rodent studies.

Her teaching includes courses on biological psychology, psychopharmacology, and functional neuroanatomy. Over 25 years of research, she has published extensively on topics like neurocognitive recovery post-radiation, sex differences in alcohol neurotoxicity, and the interplay between physical activity and alcohol consumption.