Xiaoting Wu

Xiaoting Wu is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, leading the Xiaoting Wu Lab focused on neural mechanisms of social cognition. Her work addresses critical deficits in autism, schizophrenia, and mood disorders through interdisciplinary approaches spanning molecular to behavioral scales.

Research interests include:

• Social cognition neural circuitry
• Synaptic plasticity in social memory
• Molecular neuromodulation (serotonin/neurotensin)
• Pathophysiology of social deficits
• Autism-related circuit dysfunctions

Analysis of her publications reveals consistent focus on serotonin-mediated social memory circuits and synaptic mechanisms in neuropsychiatric disorders. Her work integrates optogenetics, photometric recordings, and transcriptomics to bridge molecular pathways with behavioral outcomes, demonstrating how molecular perturbations (e.g., neuroligin-1 deletion) cause social cognitive deficits.

Scientific recognition includes:

• NARSAD Young Investigator Award (2023)
• Friedman Brain Institute Scholar Award (2022)
• Society for Neuroscience Trainee Award (2021)
• DFG Postdoctoral Fellowship (2017)
• Friedrich-Ebert PhD Fellowship (2012)

Dr. Wu directs substantial grant funding including the NIH BRAINS R01 Award (2024-2029) and K99/R00 Pathway Award (2020-2025), mentoring PhD student Ella Lubbers and researchers including Ting-Jiun Chen and Huanhuan Li. Her lab actively recruits graduate students for projects on social decision-making circuits and therapeutic reversal of social cognitive deficits.

The Xiaoting Wu Lab employs single-cell transcriptomics, in vivo photometry, and optogenetics to investigate how molecular actions shape social representation circuits, with current projects examining vCA1 hippocampal mechanisms and synaptic pathophysiology in autism models.