Department: Psychiatry & Behavioral Science

Language impairments affect up to 19% of school age children and these deficits are predictive of long-term problems affecting learning, academic achievement, and behavior. My primary research goal is to understand the neurobiological foundations of language impairments. Specifically, I am interested in how the perception and neural coding of speech impact language and other behavioral deficits in children, with a focus on children with reading disabilities and autism spectrum disorders.

I earned my Ph.D. in physiology and physiopathology in 2008 at the University Pierre & Marie Curie (UPMC) in Paris. My research interests were initially oriented on the brainstem neural circuits governing sleep/wake transitions with a particular focus on the serotonin (5-HT) signaling. As I joined Luis de Lecea's lab as a postdoc fellow, I pursued studying the dynamic of arousal systems across vigilance states and in response to environmental & behavioral challenges that threaten and disrupt ho..

Translational interdisciplinary research investigating neurocognitive correlates and potential biomarkers of neurodevelopmental disorders, especially autism spectrum disorders and fragile X syndrome, with the goal of advancing clinical care and health policy.

The neuropeptide oxytocin has been implicated in a wide range of social behaviors including attachment bonds, emotion recognition, eye gaze to social cues, and memory for social information. My research aims to determine the underlying biological mechanisms of oxytocin's action on both brain and behavior and to determine the effectiveness of its use in treating autism. My research is conducted using translational methodology including both preclinical animal models and clinical treatment trials.

Primary interests are mood disorders and cognition - specifically PTSD, Depression and Anxiety Disorders.

Narcolepsy- hypocretin deficiency is a common sleep disorder characterized by excessive daytime sleepiness and abnormal sleep-wake patterns. These patients also suffer from cataplexy, a sudden loss of muscle tone triggered by strong emotions such as laughter. The disorder is caused by the specific loss of hypothalamic neurons producing two hypocretin peptides with high homology with each other, namely hcrt1 and hcrt2. These are produced by proteolytic cleavage of a single precursor protein kno..

Dr. Fung will employ state-of-the-art multimodal neuroimaging tools to study brain development in humans with fragile X syndrome (FraX) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In parallel, he plans on conducting longitudinal multimodal neuroimaging studies in novel mouse models of fragile X syndrome. His overarching goal is to establish a framework for integrated interspecies translational research, which will accelerate the advancement of understanding of the pathophysiology of FraX and ASD and p..

Dr Gerry’s current research interests are concerned with the role of sleep, stress, coping, and health in chronic illness. She is particularly interested in examining how sleep disturbance, psychosocial stress, diurnal stress hormone functioning, and coping are related to mental health, immune function, and survival in women with breast cancer. She is also interested in the role of physical activity and sleep disturbance in stress hormone and immune functioning in women with breast cancer.

My work examines basic questions about the origins, active ingredients and correlates of emotion regulatory ability.

Using high resolution methods to map copy number variants (CNVs) in human genomes for establishing CNV associations to certain phenotypes. Mapping genetic variants in the human genome using next generation sequencing technologies and integration of variants to deduce phenotypically relevant biological pathways.

I am interested in cognitive and emotional mechanisms that contribute to initiation, development, maintenance and relapse to problematic alcohol and drug use. More specifically, I seek to understand why some individuals experiment with substances but eventually quit or moderate their use, while others go on to develop full blown substance use disorders (SUD). On the other end of the spectrum, I aim to identify and describe how these mechanisms influence treatment outcomes so as to help improve..

Research interests include examining neurophysiological development of interoceptive processing in children with psychiatric and genetic disorders, particularly PTSD, Fragile X Disorder and Eating Disorders.