Estefania Azevedo

Dr Estefania Azevedo is an Assistant Professor at the Integrative Physiology Department. Dr. Azevedo received her PhD in Biochemistry and did her postdoc at The Rockefeller University with Dr. Jeffrey Friedman. The Azevedo Lab studies how the brain decides when to eat, explore, avoid danger, or adapt to stress. We are interested in how neural circuits combine information from the body, such as hunger, metabolism, and hormonal signals, with information from the environment, including threat, novelty, and reward. Our work uses cutting-edge neuroscience and biochemistry tools to record and manipulate brain activity in behaving animals, together with molecular and physiological approaches, to understand how stress and early-life experiences alter brain–body communication. Ultimately, we aim to identify mechanisms and novel targets that may contribute to disorders of feeding, metabolism, motivation, and stress-related behavior.