Lorianna Colón
Bio
Dr. Lorianna Colón is a Supporting Promising Academic Researchers (SPAR) Fellow at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP), where her research focuses on understanding sex differences in behavior and neural development in brain health, injury, and disease. Many neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders display sex biases in prevalence, age of onset, and underlying causes. Dr. Colón’s work examines how adverse environmental exposures—such as stress, toxins, or drugs of abuse—shape neural development and outcomes in a sex-dependent manner. By using translationally relevant rodent models of neuropsychiatric disorders, her research aims to uncover mechanisms that could lead to improved interventions, treatments, and earlier diagnoses.
Her postdoctoral research builds on her doctoral training and more than a decade-long interest in early life models of neuropsychiatric disorders. Through this work, Dr. Colón seeks to advance knowledge of sex-specific neurodevelopment and highlight the importance of environmental influences on brain health across the lifespan.
Postdoc Appointment
Department
- Anesthesiology and Critical Care
Penn Faculty Mentor
- Amelia Eisch, Ph.D.
Education
Degrees
- 2021, Ph.D., Behavioral Neuroscience, The State University of New York at Albany, SUNY Albany
- 2014, M.A., Applied Behavioral Psychology, St. Francis College
- 2014, B.A., Applied Behavioral Psychology, St. Francis College
Disertation Title
Sex Differences in Context Fear Neural Circuitry and Behavior Across Development
Research Advisors
- Andrew Poulos, Ph.D.