Start-Up Award 2022: Brittany Smith

Institution: Northern Kentucky University

Department: Psychological Science

Rank: Lecturer

About the project: This project will assess how exposure to opioid drugs during the prenatal period affects offspring brain function. We will use a mouse model to study cognitive behaviors and identify changes in brain tissue, along with the use of noninvasive human biosamples. 

Intended outcomes: We hope to discover patterns of biological changes that are responsible for cognitive deficits observed after prenatal opioid exposure.

How KY INBRE will help accomplish these goals: KY INBRE funding will provide resources to help identify neurobiological pathways that are affected by prenatal opioid exposure in order to explore these pathways in greater depth with future NIH proposals. 

Outside of the classroom/lab: I enjoy spending time outdoors with my husband and three children, home-cooked meals, and doing CrossFit at our family-owned gym.