Current Research and Scholarly Interests
The Giardino Laboratory is based in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Wu Tsai Neurosciences Institute at the Stanford University School of Medicine. We aim to decipher the neural mechanisms underlying psychiatric conditions of stress, addiction, and sleep/circadian dysregulation. Our work uses genetic, pharmacological, physiological, anatomical, optical, and computational approaches in freely-behaving mice to monitor, manipulate, and map the neural circuits, synapses, and receptor signaling mechanisms that regulate sleep/wake, the stress response, approach/avoidance behaviors, drug-seeking, food intake, and social dynamics.
Research Topics:
Sleep/Wake and Circadian Rhythms
Stress & Reward
Alcohol and Psychostimulant Use Disorders
Neuropeptide Release & Signaling
Sex Differences & Hormonal Modulation
Feeding & Metabolism
Research Approaches:
Neuromodulation (chemogenetics, optogenetics, transcranial magnetic stimulation)
Neurophysiological recordings (fiber photometry, EEG/EMG, calcium imaging)
Neuroanatomy (viral circuit tracing, immunohistochemistry, in situ hybridization, confocal)
Neuropharmacology (alcohol & drug self-administration, receptor signaling mechanisms)
Computation (neural circuit modeling, ML analysis of behavioral & physiological datasets)
Neurogenetics (Cre/loxP recombination, viral gene transfer, mouse genetics)
Behavior and Evolution (rodent model organisms, cross-species comparisons)
Translation (interdisciplinary collaborations, mental health treatment development)
