Rachel A. Ross

Rachel A. Ross, M.D., Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in three departments at Albert Einstein College of Medicine: the Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience, the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and the Department of Medicine. Her research focuses on the intersection of stress, metabolism, and neuropeptide signaling, with emphasis on sex differences and psychiatric/medical illnesses related to eating disorders and obesity. She employs systems neuroscience tools in rodent models to study neural circuits involving melanocortinergic and PACAP systems.

Education: Medical degree and Ph.D. from Albert Einstein College of Medicine, residency at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Research interests include how neuropeptides regulate behavioral responses to metabolic stress, with ongoing projects investigating:

• Melanocortin-4 receptor roles in prefrontal cortex cognitive flexibility
• Sex differences in PACAPergic signaling effects on reproductive axis and metabolism
• Dietary manipulation impacts on behavioral outcomes

Her translational work bridges basic science and clinical investigations, collaborating with human studies teams to apply rodent findings to human anxiety, eating disorders, and metabolic conditions.

Awards: None explicitly listed in provided materials.

Grants & Advising: Active grants supporting her lab's collaborative research projects across multiple institutions. No specific grant details provided in text.

Labs/Teams: Leads a translational neuroscience lab at Einstein College of Medicine with active clinical collaborations in psychiatry and endocrinology.