Research Scientist, Messing Lab

Dr. Maiya’s research interests are in understanding molecular mechanisms that underlie motivated behaviors. Specifically, she is interested in studying the role of the transcriptional regulator Lim-only 4 (LMO4) in reward seeking and consumption. Her previous work has implicated a selective role for LMO4 in the basolateral amygdala (BLA) in attributing incentive value to reward-paired cues. More recently, Dr. Maiya has found that LMO4 also plays a complex and brain region-dependent role in regulating alcohol consumption.

Repeated alcohol exposure leads to changes in gene expression that are thought to underlie the transition from moderate to excessive drinking. Gene expression profiling studies have identified a multitude of alcohol-responsive gene networks, but the mechanisms by which these networks are mobilized to a neuroadaptive response are not well understood. One mechanism could involve alcohol regulation of transcriptional co-regulators that bind and modulate the activity of several transcription factors. Dr. Maiya’s results suggest that the transcriptional regulator LMO4 is one such candidate regulator.

Dr. Maiya obtained her PhD from the University of Texas at Austin followed by postdoctoral fellowships at Rockefeller University and the University of California, San Francisco. She is currently a Research Scientist in the lab of Dr. Robert Messing.