T. Lee Gilman is the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Highlighted Trainee Author for the November 2019 issue. Dr. Gilman is a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. In January 2020, she will begin a tenure-track assistant professor position at Kent State University. Her mentor is Dr. Lynette C. Daws. The Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics article that earned her selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled “Age- and Sex-Specific Plasticity in Dopamine Transporter Function Revealed by Food Restriction and Exercise in a Rat Activity-Based Anorexia Paradigm” and is available at http://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/371/2/268

Dr. Gilman’s areas of research are health and behavioral neuroscience. Her current research focuses on how diets high in fat, sugar, and salt affect not only general physiological health, but also activity levels, eating behaviors, emotions, and responses to stressors. Her current work is investigating how these unhealthy diets can influence neuroactive hormone signaling and neuroinflammation to perpetuate maladaptive behaviors, particularly under stressful conditions, leading to diseases that are often comorbid with psychopathology (e.g., type II diabetes and depression, hypertension, and anxiety).  

Through identification of shared pathways between prevalent health-related and neuropsychiatric conditions, Dr. Gilman’s research is anticipated to impact - and improve - human health and mental well-being by 1) identifying new joint targets for more holistic disease treatment, 2) exploring biomarkers that could facilitate identification of risk and subsequent implementation of early interventions, and 3) advancing awareness of the neurophysiological processes by which unhealthy diets affect behaviors and emotions.

When not in the lab, Dr. Gilman enjoys sleeping, trail running, and indoor bouldering.