Melissa Sharpe

Dr. Melissa Sharpe is a Professor at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Science, Department of Psychology. She leads the Sharpe Lab, focusing on neural circuits in reinforcement learning using optogenetics, fiber photometry, and calcium imaging. Previously, she held roles at UCLA and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Her research explores dopamine and hypothalamic circuits in disorders like schizophrenia and addiction.

Education: PhD in Psychology (UNSW), postdoctoral training at NIDA and Princeton under NHMRC CJ Martin Fellowship. Current roles include NHMRC Investigator (2025), ANS EDI committee member, and President of the Pavlovian Society. She supervises honors and PhD students in behavioral neuroscience and reinforcement learning.

Research interests center on how brain regions mediate reinforcement learning, revisiting theories like cached-value prediction errors. Techniques include genetic neuroscience tools for millisecond-precision neural activity measurement.

Key grants include NIH-funded projects on hypothalamic and dopamine circuits in addiction, and NHMRC grants targeting methamphetamine use disorder. Notable awards include the Frank Fenner Prize nomination (2025) and ACNS Young Investigator Award (2024).

Publications span dopamine's role in learning, hypothalamic signaling, and model-based approaches. Her work is featured in journals like Neuron, Current Biology, and Nature Neuroscience. She also contributes to editorial roles at Neurobiology of Learning and Memory and Scientific Reports.