Director
Ken T. Wakabayashi, Ph.D.
Dr. Wakabayashi is the Director of the Neurocircuitry of Motivated Behavior Laboratory, Assistant Professor of Psychology. He joined the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 2019, after completing a post-doctoral fellowship at the Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions at the University at Buffalo, SUNY, and a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Drug Abuse Intramural Research Program. Dr. Wakabayashi completed his Ph.D. in Neuroscience at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and his B.A. in Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of California, Berkeley.
His research focuses on basic preclinical research uncovering the neural circuitry that control motivated behaviors such as those contributing to substance use disorders, alcoholism, and addictions. His work focuses on the application of basic neuroscience techniques such as optogenetics, chemogenetics, calcium imaging, and electrochemistry to preclinical models of behavior.
Research Assistant Professor
Mauricio Suarez, Ph.D.
Dr. Suarez is currently a Research Assistant Professor in the Neurocircuitry of Motivated Behavior Laboratory. He was Born in Medellín, Colombia, and raised in White Plains, NY, he received his Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from the State University of New York at Buffalo.
His research has focused on the fundamental neurobiological processes that underpin dysregulated responding to drugs and their cues. Now in Nebraska, he uses neuroscience techniques and animal models of behavior to further understand the brain’s role in substance use disorders.
Graduate Students
Isabel R. Kees Kuebler, M.A.
Isabel joined the lab in January 2020 as a Lab Manager. In August 2020 she started her first year in the Psychology PhD program in Neuroscience and Behavior as a Graduate Research Assistant. She earned her B.A. in Chemistry and Neuroscience from Coe College in May 2019 where she assisted in research studying protein expression in cell lines. Her research interests include the impact of sex differences on neural circuits that regulate motivated behavior.
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Audrey Denning
Caroline Hansen
Kate Ng
Abby Shih
Jess Vollan
Lab Alumni
Undergraduate Research Assistants
Bryn Mattes (2022-2024)
Grant Hatcher (2023-2023)
Hannah Schneider (2022-2023)
Matthew Matuszeski (2021-2022)
Gerin Zimmerman (2021-2022) - Gerin participated in UCARE and presented a poster titled "Alcohol drinking in male and female rats is differently modulated by the type of sugar added: regulation by melanin-concentrating hormone".
Josh Jolton (2020-2022) - Josh completed an Honors Thesis in Psychology titled "Sex Differences in Lateral Hypothalamic Extracellular Glucose Concentrations During Cumulative Dosing of Methamphetamine in Rats".
Chase Hermreck (2021-2022)
Noah Huber (2020-2022)
Raaga Dasari (2020-2022)
Youxi Liu (2019-2021) - Youxi participated in UCARE and completed an Honors Thesis in Psychology titled "Melanin-concentrating Hormone Receptor Antagonism Attenuates the Expression of Nicotine Psychomotor Sensitization in Rats".
Barbara Sofia Bueno Alvarez (2020-2021) - Barbara participated in UCARE and presented a research presentation.
Amy McWilliams (2019-2020)