Name: Eleanor B. Holmgren
Year in Program: 6th
Department: Cell Biology and Anatomy
Mentor: Dr. Tiffany Wills
Hometown: Nashville, TN
Education: Behavioral Neuroscience B.S. from Centre College, Danville, KY
Past Research Experience: While at Centre College, I had the opportunity to assist with multiple research projects, including investigating sexual conditioning in Japanese Quail with Dr. Brian Cusato, conducting field research on vervet monkey colony migration patterns in Barbados with Drs. Cusato and Burns-Cusato, and a yearlong research project on the neurobiological substrates of the avian pair-bond in ring-necked doves under Dr. Melissa Burns-Cusato. These early research experiences allowed me to explore different types of research and inspired me to pursue a PhD.
Current Research Interest: I am completing my dissertation under Dr. Tiffany Wills investigating the effects of adolescent alcohol exposure on neuroplasticity in the Bed Nucleus of the Stria Terminalis (BNST) and other factors which influence the development of alcohol use disorder.
Publications:
Carzoli KL, Sharfman NM, Lerner MR, Miller MC, Holmgren EB, & Wills TA (2019) Regulation of NMDA Receptor Plasticity in the BNST Following Adolescent Alcohol Exposure. Front. Cell. Neurosci. 13:440. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2019.00440.
Kasten CR, Holmgren EB, & Wills TA (2019). Metabotropic Glutamate Receptor Subtype 5 in Alcohol-Induced Negative Affect. Brain sciences, 9(8), 183. doi:10.3390/brainsci9080183
Kasten CR, Carzoli KL, Sharfman NM, Henderson TH, Holmgren EB, Lerner MR, Miller MC, & Wills TA (2020) Adolescent Alcohol Exposure Produces Sex Differences in Negative Affect-Like Behavior and Group 1 mGluR BNST Plasticity. Neuropsychopharmacol. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-020-0670-7
Kasten, CR*, Holmgren, EB*, Lerner, MR, & Wills, TA. (2021). BNST specific mGlu5 receptor knockdown regulates sex-dependent expression of negative affect produced by adolescent ethanol exposure and adult stress. Translational psychiatry, 11(1), 178. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-021-01285-y (*Co-first Author)
Holmgren, E. B., & Wills, T. A. (2021). Regulation of glutamate signaling in the extended amygdala by adolescent alcohol exposure. International review of neurobiology, 160, 223–250. https://doi.org/10.1016/bs.irn.2021.08.004
Career Goal: Position at a teaching intensive primarily undergraduate institution
Best Thing about the Program: The friends I’ve made in my cohort and in my lab
What makes you unique? My most productive writing time is from 10pm-5am.