Dr. Powell is a Professor of Psychiatry at UCSD and Director of the Neuropsychopharmacology Unit of the Veteran’s Affairs VISN22 Mental Illness Research, Education, & Clinical Centers (MIRECC). Dr. Powell’s career has focused on the translational interface of animal and human neurodevelopmental research. Her research examines early risk factors contributing to neurodevelopmental disorders such as schizophrenia and autism. She uses a combination of behavioral, pharmacological, genetic, molecular, and optogenetic techniques to understand the effects of early life insult on brain circuitry. Studies seek to determine the effects of environmental exposures (e.g. prenatal immune activation) and early life insults (e.g. adolescent social isolation) and their combination with genetic susceptibility on behavior and brain development. Her preclinical work seeks to develop pharmacological therapeutics and circuit manipulations to reverse behavioral deficits in these models. Her research also involves basic studies on the behavioral effects of hallucinogens in rodents with the hope that these models will inform us about psychosis in humans and lead to development of novel therapeutics. Dr. Powell is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and has been the principal investigator on research awards from NIMH, NIEHS, VA and NARSAD.