Sherie Ma The International Congress of Neuroendocrinology 2014

Sherie Ma

Dr. Sherie Ma is a senior research scientist at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, University of Melbourne, Australia. During her PhD and postdoctoral training, she has worked in USA at the University of California, Irvine, in Spain at Universidad Autonoma Madrid and Universitat de Valencia, and in France at Universite Paris Descartes. Her main scientific skills are in vivo electrophysiology with juxtacellular labeling of single neurons in anesthetized rats, and in freely-moving behaving rats using telemetry, to better understand neural circuitry underlying behaviour. Her research over the last decade, has characterised the neuroanatomy and physiological functions of a novel neuropeptide discovered by Florey scientists in 2002, known as relaxin-3, and the function of the hindbrain nucleus incertus, which is the primary source of relaxin-3 in rodent and primate brain. These and other studies indicate that relaxin-3 plays a role regulating stress responses, cognitive and arousal processes.