Pharmacology PhD Student
Irena received her bachelor’s degree in Pharmacology from Stony Brook University, where her undergraduate research focused on oligodendrocyte development and plasticity. She was then a laboratory technician for two years at Columbia University Medical Center, studying the maturation of striatal neurons in the lab of Dr. David Sulzer. Irena joined the Pleil lab in 2022, where she focuses on characterizing the mechanisms by which estrogen dynamically regulates the function of neuropeptidergic neurons in the BNST through signaling at the membrane.