Dr. Michela Marinelli

Biography

Michela (Micky) Marinelli, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurology and a courtesy Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Dell Medical School, The University of Texas at Austin. She also holds an appointment in the Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the College of Pharmacy. Prior to joining UT Austin, Marinelli was a faculty member at Inserm from 2000 to 2003 and at Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science from 2003 to 2013. Her research focuses on the neurobiological bases of drug addiction, emphasizing biological and environmental factors that enhance susceptibility to addiction. Her team employs a systems approach to understand how various variables interact at different levels, using rodent models to study neuronal activity, protein expression, neuroanatomy, and behavioral responses related to drug self-administration. Current lab projects investigate age and sex differences in reward acquisition, the role of the lateral preoptic area in reward seeking, and the interplay between stress and dopamine in addiction liability. Marinelli is a member of the National Institute on Drug Abuse’s Board of Scientific Counselors and has taught various courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels, focusing on communication skills, interprofessional education, experimental design, and neuropharmacology.

Research Interests

Experience

Courses