Research

I received my Ph.D. in Neuroscience from West Virginia University. My research focused on the relationship between alcohol misuse and traumatic brain injury.

(Click on images for full article)

Image of two bar graphs and two stained mouse brain sections

Ovarian Steroids Mediate Sex Differences in Alcohol Reward After Brain Injury in Mice

This work demonstrates that changes in alcohol-related behavior following a juvenile traumatic brain injury are influenced by ovarian hormones.

Sex, Drugs, and TBI: The Role of Sex in Substance Abuse Related to Traumatic Brain Injuries

A review on how sex differences influence substance use disorders associated with traumatic brain injuries.

Schematic of the sex differences related to substance use and traumatic brain injury

Bar graphs above a fluorescently stained section of a mouse hippocampus

Moderate Intensity Treadmill Exercise Increases Survival of Newborn Hippocampal Neurons and Improves Neurobehavioral Outcomes after Traumatic Brain Injury

My colleagues and I show that there are intensity-dependent exercise benefits in traumatic brain injury recovery.

Charles A. Phoenix

Contributed a chapter on the neuroendocrinologist Charles A. Phoenix to the Biographical History of Behavioral Neuroendocrinology published by Springer.

Additional Publications

Weil, Z.; Karelina, K.; Whitehead, B.; Velazquez-Cruz, R.; Oliverio, R.; Pinti, M.; Nwafor, D.; Nicholson, S.; Fitzgerald, J.; Hollander, J.; Brown, C.; Zhang, N.; DeVries, A. C. (2021). Mild traumatic brain injury increases vulnerability to cerebral ischemia in mice. Experimental Neurology.

White, B. A., Ivey, J. T., Velazquez-Cruz, R., Oliverio, R., Whitehead, B., Pinti, M., Hollander, J., Ma, L., Hu, G., Weil, Z. M., Karelina, E. (2023). Exercise intensity and sex alter neurometabolic, transcriptional, and functional recovery following traumatic brain injury. Accepted to Experimental Neurology