Graduate Student
Kokila Shankar
Looking at how feeding metabolism and physiology is disrupted by drugs of abuse at different points of the addiction cycle

Originally from Lansdale, Pennsylvania, I graduated from The Pennsylvania State University in 2017 with a B.S. in Biology and minors in Psychology and Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. During that time, I worked as an undergraduate research assistant in Dr. Moriah Szpara's lab, where I completed an undergraduate Honors thesis studying in vitro cellular phenotypes of herpes simplex virus type 1 infection.
I started my PhD at The Scripps Research Institute in the fall of 2017, and spent a year developing my research interests in both neuroscience and metabolism. I look forward to connecting these two fields throughout my PhD research in addiction. Outside of the lab, I enjoy baking/cooking, going to trivia nights, and watching Penn State football.
Kokila Shankar
Postdoctoral Fellow
Lieselot Carrette
Startup of new project:
- Epigenetic variation (start with looking at MECP2 levels) in the biobank brains. Then try to selectively modulate MECP2 levels and evaluate behavioral change.
Joining in ongoing projects:
- Nociceptin
- Pre-clinical testing of oral compound for alcohol dependence
- Neuronal ensembles

During my postdoc in epigenetics and molecular biology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, I was working on a novel therapeutic approach for the neurodevelopmental disorder, Rett syndrome. In the George lab, I want to delve deeper into neuroscience, trying to better understand and treat substance use disorder, both as a goal on itself and as a model for other disorders.
Lieselot Carrette