Joshua Bizzell

Joshua Bizzell is a Research Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry at the UNC School of Medicine, specializing in neuroimaging studies of mood disorders, anhedonia, and hormonal influences on brain function.

Education:

• BS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• MS, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

His research spans Neuroscience, Psychiatry, and Cognitive Neuroscience with emphasis on:

• Neural mechanisms of depression and anhedonia
• Estradiol effects on brain circuitry in perimenopausal women
• Stress responses in adolescents and polyvictimization impacts
• Reward processing in autism spectrum disorder
• Multimodal neuroimaging techniques including fMRI and PET

Recent publications (2021-2025) reveal consistent focus on hormonal modulation of frontostriatal circuits in depression, stress-related neural changes in developmental populations, and dopamine-reward relationships in anhedonia. His work integrates pharmaco-fMRI, ultra-high field MRI, and PET to dissect neuroendocrine mechanisms in mood disorders.