Sarah L.Ferri, PhD

Address: 2400 PBDBPhoto of Sarah Ferri
Phone: (319) 353-4535
Email: sarah-ferri@uiowa.edu

Mentor: Ted Abel, PhD
PhD Institution: University of Pennsylvania

Secondary appointment in Neuroscience and Pharmacology started July 1, 2023

Research Description

Investigating mechanisms of social deficits and sex bias in neurodevelopmental disorders

Awards

  • University of Iowa Biomedical Postdoctoral Scholar Award, 2016​
  • McMorris Training Program in Translational Autism Research, 2014
  • Neurodevelopmental Disabilities Training Grant, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (T32 NS007413), 2013
  • University of Pennsylvania GAPSA Travel Award, 2012
  • Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology Travel Award, 2011
  • Norman Anderson Graduate Student fund awardee, University of Pennsylvania, 2010

Publications

  1. Ferri SL, Pallathra AA, Kim H, Dow HC, Raje P, McMullen M, Bilker WB, Siegel SJ, Abel T, Brodkin ES. :  Sociability development in mice with cell-specific deletion of the NMDA receptor NR1 subunit gene. Genes, Brain and Behavior 19:e12624, 2020.
  2. Angelakos CC, Tudor JC, Ferri SL, Jongens TA, Abel T.:  Home-cage hypoactivity in mouse genetic models of autism spectrum disorder. Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, pii: S1074-7427(19)30031-0, 2019.
  3. Ferri SL, Abel T, Brodkin ES.:  Sex differences in Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Review. Current Psychiatry Reports 20:9, 2018.
  4. Schoch H, Kreibich AS, Ferri SL, White RS, Bohorquez D, Banerjee A, Port RG, Dow HC, Cordero L, Pallathra AA, Kim H, Li H, Bilker WB, Hirano S, Schultz RT, Borgmann-Winter K, Hahn CG, Feldmeyer D, Carlson GC, Abel T, Brodkin ES.:  Sociability deficits and altered amygdala circuits in mice lacking Pcdh10, an autism-associated gene. Biological Psychiatry 81:193-202, 2017. 
  5. Ferri SL, Kreibich AS, Torre M, Piccoli CT, Pallathra A, Dow HC, Li H, Gur R, Abel T, Brodkin ES.:  Activation of basolateral amygdala in juvenile C57Bl/6J mice during social approach. Neuroscience 335:184-194, 2016.
  6. Havekes R, Park AJ, Tudor JC, Luczak VG, Hansen RT, Ferri SL, Bruinenberg VM, Poplawski SG, Day JP, Aton SJ, Radwanska K, Meerlo P, Houslay MD, Baillie GS, Abel T.:  Sleep deprivation causes memory deficits by negatively impacting neuronal connectivity in hippocampal area CA1. eLife, 5:e13424, 2016.
  7. Havekes R, Bruinenberg VM, Tudor JC, Ferri SL, Baumann A, Meerlo P, Abel T.:  Transiently increasing cAMP levels selectively in hippocampal excitatory neurons during sleep deprivation prevents memory deficits caused by sleep loss. Journal of Neuroscience 34:15715-15721, 2014.
  8. Ferri SL, Hildebrand PF, Way SE, Flanagan-Cato LM.:  Estradiol regulates markers of synaptic plasticity in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus and amygdala of female rats. Hormones and Behavior 66:409-420, 2014.
  9. Ferri SL, Rohrbach CJ, Way SE, Curtis KS, Curtis JT, Flanagan-Cato LM.:  Dendritic arbor of neurons in the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus in female prairie voles (Microtus ochrogaster). Hormones and Behavior 63:173-179, 2013.
  10. Ferri SL, Flanagan-Cato LM.:  Oxytocin and dendrite remodeling in the hypothalamus. Hormones and Behavior 61:251-258, 2012.
  11. Griffin GD, Ferri-Kolwicz SL, Reyes BAS, Van Bockstaele EJ, Flanagan-Cato LM.:  Ovarian hormone-induced reorganization of oxytocin-labeled dendrites and synapses lateral to the hypothalamic ventromedial nucleus in female rats. Journal of Comparative Neurology 15:4531-4545, 2010.
  12. Ferri SL, Bohm RA, Lincicome HE, Hall JC, Villella A.:  fruitless gene products truncated of their male-like qualities promote neural and behavioral maleness in Drosophila if these proteins are produced in the right places at the right times. Journal of Neurogenetics 22: 17-55, 2008.
  13. Villella A, Ferri SL, Krystal JD, Hall JC.:  Functional analysis of fruitless gene expression by transgenic manipulations of Drosophila courtship. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA 102:16550-16557, 2005.

People