Rachel A. Ross, M.D., Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, Dominick P. Purpura Department of Neuroscience

Co-primary, Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences

(neuroscience category)

rachel ross
All organisms need to adjust their behavior to adapt to a changing environment. Feeding behaviors, for example, depend upon both internal states (i.e. hunger) and external realities, (i.e. food availability). Stress influences food-based decision making and metabolic outcomes, and failures in this behavioral regulation can lead to disease states, such as anorexia nervosa or obesity. Our translational laboratory uses systems neuroscience tools to better understand the pathophysiology and biology that underlies the behavior related to these diseases in hopes of reducing the associated stigma. We are focused on how neuropeptides regulate specific circuits at the interface of stress and metabolism, with an interest in sex differences and behavior differences that result in outcomes across the weight spectrum related to psychiatric and medical illness. We concentrate on two neuropeptidergic systems: the metabolism associated melanocortinergic system, and the stress-linked PACAP system. In rodent models we use a combination of behavior studies, electrophysiology, in vivo Ca2+ imaging, pharmacologic, optogenetic, and chemogenetic manipulations to interrogate how these neuropeptides regulate neural circuits at the interface of stress and metabolism. In collaboration with clinical researchers, we work to apply our findings to inform investigations into human behavior using molecular, genetic, and qualitative approaches. Current projects in the lab include: 2 What is the role of the melanocortin-4 receptor in the medial prefrontal cortex in cognitive flexibility. Is it specific to food-related decision making? 2 Does metabolic stress transmit a PACAPergic signal, and how is this different between males and females? How does this affect the reproductive axis? 2 How does dietary manipulation affect behavioral outcomes?

Selected Publications

Ross R, Wang PY, Chari M, Lam CK, Caspi L, Ono H, Muse ED, Li X, Gutierrez-Juarez R, Light PE, Schwartz GJ, Rossetti L, Lam TK. Hypothalamic PKC regulates glucose production.  Diabetes. 2008 Aug; 57(8): 2061-2065. 

Ross RA, Rossetti L, Lam TKT, Schwartz GJ. Differential effects of hypothalamic long chain fatty acid infusions on suppression of hepatic glucose production. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 2010 Oct; 299(4): E633-639. Kelly DJ, Barrie MB, Ross RA, Temple BA, Moses LM, Bausch DG. Housing equity for health equity–A rights-based approach to the control of Lassa fever in post-war Sierra Leone. BMC Int Health and Hum Rights. 2013 Jan; 13(2): 1-6.

Ross RA, Mandelblat-Cerf Y, Verstegen, HMJ. Interacting neural processes of feeding, hyperactivity, stress, reward, and the utility of the activity based anorexia model of anorexia nervosa. Harvard Rev Psychiatry. 2016 Nov/Dec; 24(6):416-436. PubMed PMID: 27824637.

Cassano P, Bui E, Rogers AH, Ross R, Zeng M, Nadal-Vicens M, Mischoulon D, Baker A, Worthington J, Hoge L, Alpert J, Fava M, Wong KK, Simon NM. Inflammatory Cytokines in Major Depressive Disorder: a Rigorous Case-Control Study. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Psychiatry. June 2016.

Keenan WT*, Rupp AC*, Ross RA, Somasundaram P, Hiriyanna S, Wu Z, Badea TC, Robinson PR, Lowell BB, and Hattar S. A visual circuit uses complementary mechanisms to support transient and sustained pupil constriction. eLife 2016;10.7554/eLife.15392 PMID: 27669145

Ross RA, Foster SL, Ionescu DF. The role of chronic stress in anxious depression. Chronic Stress. 2017 Feb; 1.

Ross RA, Leon S, Madara JC, Schafer D, Fergani C, Maguire CA, Verstegen AM, Brengle E, Kong D, Herbison AE, Kaiser UB, Lowell BB, Navarro VM.  PACAP neurons in the ventral premammillary nucleus regulate reproductive function in the female mouse. eLife. 2018 Jun 15;7;. pii: e35960. doi: 10.7554/eLife.35960. PubMed PMID: 29905528

Maddox SA, Hartmann J, Ross RA, Ressler KJ. Neuron. 2019 April 3; Deconstructing the gestalt: Mechanisms of fear, threat, and trauma memory encoding. Neuron. April 3, 2019. 102;60-74.

Morris LA, Kremens J, Tishelman A, Ross RA. (accepted May 2019) Depression in Turner Syndrome: A systematic review. Archives of Sexual Behavior.

Verstegen AMJ, Klymko N, Zhu L, Mathai JC, Kobayashi R, Venner A, Ross RA, VanderHorst VG, Arrigoni E, Geerling JC, Zeidel ML. (accepted June 2019). Non-Crh glutamatergic neurons in Barrington’s nucleus control micturition via glutamatergic afferents from the midbrain and hypothalamus. Current Biology.

Bui E, Hellberg SN, Hoeppner SS, Rosencrans P, Young A, Ross RA, Hoge E, Simon NM. (accepted July 2019). Circulating Levels of Oxytocin May Be Elevated in Complicated Grief: A Pilot Study. Eur J Psychotraumatol. https://doi.org/10.1080/20008198.2019.1646603.