Understanding the OCD Brain: Using Technology to Build Bridges Between Humans and Mice

Sponsored by the Ewald W. Busse Lectureship Susanne Ahmari is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at University of Pittsburgh, Director of the Translational OCD Laboratory, and a practicing psychiatrist. Her research program integrates cutting-edge technology in animal models with clinical and post-mortem studies of OCD patients. Ahmari's ultimate goal is to identify the molecular, cellular, and circuit-level changes that underlie the onset and persistence of abnormal repetitive and compulsive behaviors, and use this information to develop neuroscientifically-based treatments for OCD. She is also currently a Program Director at Wellcome Leap, where she established Multi-Channel Psych, a $50M research initiative focused on developing new mechanistic treatments for anhedonic depression. Dr. Ahmari received her BS in Honors Biology and Biochemistry from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and her MD-PhD in Molecular and Cellular Physiology from Stanford. She then performed psychiatry residency and post-doctoral training at Columbia University. Her work is currently supported by NIMH and foundation grants including a Burroughs Wellcome Career Award, One Mind Rising Star Award, IOCDF Breakthrough Award, and Foundation for OCD Research Consortium Award. Link to join: https://duke.zoom.us/j/98962132007