Marisa Roberto, PhD
Professor in the Molecular Medicine Department at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) in La Jolla, California
Dr. Roberto received her BA (1996) in Biological Sciences and her Ph.D. (2001) in Neuroscience from The University of Pisa, Italy. In 2001 she joined TSRI as a postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Siggins’ laboratory, and started her studies on alcohol and other drugs of abuse. In 2005, she started her own laboratory at TSRI, where she has continued to identify how stress and alcohol alter neuronal function and synaptic transmission in the amygdala. Among the awards that Dr. Roberto has received are the Young Investigator Award from RSA (2005) and the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) (2009), and the Jacob P. Waletzky Award from the Society for Neuroscience (2016) for her significant conceptual and empirical contributions to the understanding of drug addiction. She advocates for the development of research collaborations with international colleagues world-wide and for equity in science, she seeks to increase opportunities for junior scientists, and work to increase interactions between preclinical and clinical researchers to provide translational insights for targeted strategies to alleviate AUD symptomatology.