Mary Kay Lobo

Mary Kay Lobo, PhD is a Professor in the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine with a secondary appointment in Psychiatry. She serves as the Associate Director of Basic & Translational Science at the Kahlert Institute of Addiction Medicine. Dr. Lobo's research focuses on understanding the neural mechanisms underlying addiction, depression, and other psychiatric disorders.

Dr. Lobo received her B.S. in Biology with a minor in Anthropology from the University of California Los Angeles in 1998. She earned her PhD in Neuroscience from UCLA in 2007, working under the mentorship of Dr. X. William Yang. Following her PhD, she completed postdoctoral training at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in the laboratory of Dr. Eric Nestler.

Dr. Lobo's research program investigates striatal projection neuron subtypes and their downstream brain target regions in psychiatric diseases including drug abuse, mood disorders, and stereotypy disorders. Her work employs cutting-edge techniques including optogenetics, chemogenetics, neuronal subtype-specific genetic targeting, and advanced behavioral paradigms to dissect the molecular and circuit mechanisms underlying these conditions. Her research has significantly advanced our understanding of how specific neuron subtypes in the nucleus accumbens contribute to addiction and depression.

Dr. Lobo has received numerous prestigious awards including the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) from the Obama administration, the IMHRO/Janssen Rising Star Translational Research Award, and the NARSAD Young Investigator Award. She serves on the editorial boards of several high-impact journals including The Journal of Neuroscience and Biological Psychiatry.

Her laboratory has secured significant funding from multiple sources including multiple NIH R01 grants as Principal Investigator, a US-Israel Binational Science Foundation grant, and an NSF grant. Dr. Lobo's research program represents a highly productive and innovative approach to understanding the neurobiological basis of psychiatric disorders, with potential implications for developing novel therapeutic strategies.