معرفی
Zoe Donaldson is an Associate Professor at the University of Colorado Boulder, affiliated with the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology and the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. She holds a PhD from Emory University (2009). Her interdisciplinary research focuses on the neurobiological and genetic mechanisms underlying individual differences in behavior and their link to mental illness. Using prairie voles, mice, and post-mortem human tissue, her lab employs advanced techniques like CRISPRa/i, RNA sequencing, and optogenetics to explore how genes and environment shape social and emotional behaviors. Key areas include pair bonding, stress responses, and the neurobiology of social loss. She also contributes to neuroscience tools, such as the open-source PhAT toolkit for photometry analysis.
Her work bridges molecular, cellular, and behavioral studies, emphasizing translational insights for psychiatric conditions. Notable studies investigate the impact of aging on pair bonding, locus coeruleus degeneration in Alzheimer’s models, and dopamine signaling in social reward circuits. The Donaldson Lab’s research has implications for understanding prolonged grief disorder, neurodegenerative diseases, and adaptive responses to social separation.
Publications highlight methodological innovations and discoveries in social neuroscience, including transcriptional synchrony in relationships and sex-dependent effects of aging on social behavior. Her team’s findings are disseminated through high-impact journals and interdisciplinary collaborations, contributing to both basic science and clinical applications.
