Joshua L. Plotkin

Joshua L. Plotkin is an Associate Professor at Stony Brook University, affiliated with the Renaissance School of Medicine and the Center for Affective Neuroscience of Depression and Anxiety (CANDA). His research focuses on understanding striatal circuitry and its role in habit learning, action selection, and neurological disorders such as OCD. He earned his PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA and completed postdoctoral training at UCLA and Northwestern University.

Education:

• Bachelor’s degrees in Biology and Music from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor)
• PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA

Research Interests: Dr. Plotkin’s lab investigates how the striatum processes information to guide behavior, with a focus on synaptic plasticity, dopamine modulation, and disease mechanisms in OCD and Huntington’s disease. Techniques include 2-photon microscopy, optogenetics, and electrophysiology.

Labs/Teams: Plotkin Lab at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CMM 565), part of Stony Brook’s research infrastructure.