Alicia Izquierdo

Alicia Izquierdo is a Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of California, Los Angeles, serving as Vice Chair for Academic Personnel in the Department of Psychology within the College of Letters and Science. Her research laboratory investigates the brain mechanisms underlying flexible reinforcement learning and value-based decision making, with particular emphasis on how costs, uncertainty, risk, and reinforcement history influence these processes.

Dr. Izquierdo received her B.S. in Biology and Psychology from Emory University, followed by a Ph.D. in Cognitive Neuroscience through the Graduate Partnership Program between the National Institutes of Health and The George Washington University. She completed postdoctoral training at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Her educational background reflects a strong foundation in both biological and psychological approaches to neuroscience.

Her research interests span multiple domains of behavioral neuroscience, focusing on the neural mechanisms of flexible reinforcement learning, value-based decisions involving effort, delay, and risk, with special attention to frontal cortex contributions. Her lab employs a diverse methodological toolkit including behavioral, molecular, pharmacological, computational, and in vivo imaging approaches to study these processes. More recently, her work has expanded to investigate neural and behavioral adaptations following chronic intravenous drug self-administration and voluntary alcohol experience, with implications for understanding addiction mechanisms.

Analysis of her recent publications reveals a consistent focus on decision neuroscience, with particular attention to orbitofrontal cortex function, VTA GABA neuron activity, and how these systems process reward and punishment information. Her work demonstrates how computational approaches can elucidate the neural basis of flexible behavior across multiple model systems.

Dr. Izquierdo is actively involved in national and international organizations supporting inclusion in STEM. Her laboratory has received support from programs like the HHMI Gilliam Fellowship, which funds trainees such as Zeenah Rivera. She has been vocal about the impact of federal grant suspensions at UCLA, which have affected approximately $584 million in research funding across the campus.

Her laboratory contributes to translational neuroscience by developing paradigms that readily translate across model systems, with potential applications for understanding behavioral and substance addictions. The Izquierdo Lab maintains an active presence in the neuroscience community through publications, conference participation, and engagement with broader scientific policy issues affecting research funding and academic freedom.