2014 NARSAD Young investigator grantees - Basic research (Multiple disorders)

Will use mouse models to determine the interaction of early life and adolescent stress in inducing depression and anxiety-like behavior and exaggerated stress response in adulthood. Dr. Kundakovic will examine how DNA methylation is affected in the adult hippocampus at 48 genomic regions of relevance to depression and anxiety (methylation is a so-called “epigenetic” mechanism in which external factors, such as stress, alter gene expression without altering the underlying DNA sequence).