Karen Ackroff

Karen Ackroff is an Adjunct Professor in the Psychology Department at Brooklyn College, part of the City University of New York (CUNY). She co-directs Dr. Anthony Sclafani’s Feeding Behavior and Nutrition Laboratory, focusing on behavioral neuroscience, feeding behavior, and nutrient learning mechanisms. Her research investigates how flavor learning influences carbohydrate and fat appetite, with an emphasis on genetic and sensory factors in mice and rats.

Her research interests include the psychology of learning, behavioral ecology, and nutrition. She has explored postoral nutrient sensing, taste receptor deficiencies, and the role of specific nutrients like glucose and fructose in flavor conditioning. Her work also addresses differences in feeding preferences across rodent strains and genetic models.

Dr. Ackroff’s articles consistently analyze the interplay between taste, nutrient absorption, and behavioral responses, with recent studies emphasizing nonnutritive sweeteners, sex differences in glucose appetition, and lipid sensor deficiencies. She is a founding member of the Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior and has held leadership roles in related professional societies.

Her laboratory’s work bridges basic science and translational research, aiming to understand the biological and psychological underpinnings of food choice and overeating. Collaborative efforts focus on experimental models to identify mechanisms driving nutrient preferences, with implications for metabolic health and obesity.