Christina Tognoni '09
Christina is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Systems and Integrative Neuroscience at Duke University and is the recipient of a National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship.
Hello! My name is Christina Tognoni and I am a graduate of the Wellesley College class of 2009. At Wellesley, I found the Neuroscience Major to be a perfect way to combine my interests in the sciences and psychology. I also majored in Spanish and spent a semester studying abroad in Córdoba, Spain. ¡Olé!
In the summer after my sophomore year, I attended the Mechanisms of Behavior summer internship program at Duke University, where I researched how events early in development can affect how the adult rat brain responds to memory demands, aging, and injury. During my junior year I interned at the Osher Research Center at Harvard Medical School, where I performed data analysis on studies exploring how mindfulness can affect touch perception and the somatosensory cortex in humans.
I began working with Marc Tetel the summer after my junior year and continued for my senior thesis. In the Tetel lab, I used triple-label immunohistochemistry and confocal microscopy to examine the coexpression of estrogen-induced progestin receptors and nuclear receptor coactivators in the mouse hypothalamus, a brain region involved in reproductive behavior. I believe my work will increase our understanding of how coactivators regulate hormone-dependent physiology. Overall, my experience in the Tetel lab has inspired my interest in the effect of hormones on brain processes and, ultimately, behavior.
This interest brought me back to the lab of Christina Williams at Duke University, where I am pursuing a Ph.D program in Systems & Integrative Neuroscience in the department of Psychology & Neuroscience. Currently, I am investigating sex differences in spatial learning and hippocampal plasticity in rats. I seek to become more engaged in neuroendocrine research and explore how hormones organize the brain to influence learning and memory in adulthood.
PUBLICATIONS
Papers:
Tognoni, C.M, Chadwick, Jr., J.G., Ackeifi, C.A. and Tetel, M.J. Nuclear receptor coactivators are coexpressed with steroid receptors and regulated by estradiol in mouse brain. Neuroendocrinology, 94: 49-57, 2011.
Abstracts:
Ackeifi C.A., Tognoni, C.M., Chadwick, J.G., Tetel, M.J. Steroid receptor coactivator-1 (SRC-1) and SRC-2 are coexpressed with progestin receptors and regulated by estradiol in female mouse brain. Society for Neuroscience, 2009.
Tognoni, C.M., Ackeifi C.A., Chadwick, J.G., Tetel, M.J. Cells in female mouse brain coexpress steroid receptors and nuclear receptor coactivators. The Endocrine Society, 2009.
