Ana Pocivavsek

Ana Pocivavsek, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience at the University of South Carolina School of Medicine. Her research program bridges neuroscience, pharmacology, and psychiatry, with a focus on understanding the molecular mechanisms linking sleep, cognition, and mental illness.

She earned her B.S. in Psychology from Duke University and her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Georgetown University, followed by postdoctoral training at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

Dr. Pocivavsek's research centers on the kynurenine pathway of tryptophan metabolism, particularly the role of kynurenic acid in sleep regulation and cognitive function. Her work investigates how dysregulation of this pathway contributes to cognitive impairments in psychiatric disorders like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, across developmental stages from neurodevelopment to aging. She employs in vivo preclinical models to explore therapeutic strategies such as inhibiting kynurenic acid synthesis.

Her recent publications, appearing in journals such as Pharmacological Reviews, Journal of Sleep Research, and Neuropsychopharmacology, reflect a strong trend toward translational neuroscience, integrating neurochemistry, sleep physiology, sex differences, and computational methods like machine learning for sleep stage classification.

• Neuroactive kynurenines as pharmacological targets
• Role of kynurenic acid in sleep-wake architecture
• Sex-specific neurobiological outcomes of sleep loss
• Kynurenine pathway in neurodevelopment and aging
• Therapeutic inhibition of kynurenic acid formation

Dr. Pocivavsek has received numerous scientific awards, including the 2022 Breakthrough Star at USC, Sleep Research Society travel and fellowship awards, and multiple student research grants such as SPARC, SURF, and Magellan awards. Her lab has been recognized at national conferences including Society for Neuroscience and SLEEP.

She actively mentors a diverse team of trainees, including graduate students (Katie Rentschler, Snezana Milosavljevic, Courtney Wright), undergraduates (Sam Walther, Charlie Grant, Hayley Nicholson, Sarisha Menon), and postdoctoral researchers. Her lab has secured external funding through grants from the Sleep Research Society Foundation and USC internal funding mechanisms.

Dr. Pocivavsek leads the Pocivavsek Lab, a dynamic research group dedicated to translational neuroscience, with collaborative ties to researchers such as Dr. Homayoun Valafar in computational science. The lab emphasizes interdisciplinary training and innovation in studying the neurobiology of sleep and cognition.