Sara Freeman

Sara Freeman is an Associate Professor in the Biology Department at Utah State University, where she has held a tenure-track position since 2019. Her research focuses on the neurobiology of social behavior, particularly the roles of oxytocin and vasopressin receptors in psychiatric disorders like autism and schizophrenia, using nonhuman primates and canids as models.

• PhD in Neuroscience, Emory University (2013)
• BS in Biology (French Language & Literature), University of Virginia (2006)

Her research spans receptor pharmacology, comparative neuroanatomy, and animal models of psychiatric disease, with recent work examining oxytocin/vasopressin systems in schizophrenia, titi monkey pair-bonding, and canid sociality. Publications in Social Neuroscience, Biology Letters, and Animal Behaviour highlight her interdisciplinary approach.

Key awards include:

• Open Access Funding Initiative Award (2025, 2022)
• Biology Faculty Mentor – Early Career Award (2025)
• Peak Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year (2022)
• Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Award (2020)

She mentors graduate students in neuroscience and biology while teaching courses like Cellular and Molecular Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology: Hormones & Behavior. The Freeman Lab investigates the social brain through translational neuroscience, aiming to identify biomarkers for human social dysfunction disorders.