Additional Titles & Roles
- Director, IDDRC Animal Behavior Subunit
- Co-Director, IDDRC Model Systems Core
- Principal Investigator, Washington University Scalable Mouse Assay Center
- Assistant Director, Animal Behavior Core
Education & Training
- Ph.D.: University of Missouri in St Louis, 2012
- M.A.: University of Missouri in St Louis, 2007
- B.A.: University of Missouri in St Louis, 2003
Major Awards
- W.M. Keck Fellowship for Molecular Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, 2015
- Neuroscience, Behavior and Cognition Student of the Year Award, University of Missouri – St. Louis, 2011
- Outstanding Research in Behavioral Neuroscience Award, University of Missouri – St. Louis, 2011
- Kathy Van Dyke Scholarship for Leadership and Significant Contribution to the Field of Psychology, University of Missouri – St. Louis, 2008
- Outstanding Graduate Student in the Ph.D. Program in Behavioral Neuroscience Award, University of Missouri – St. Louis, 2007
Research Interests
The focus of my research is the to understand how genetic and environmental liabilities for intellectual and developmental disorders (IDD) result in the behavioral changes characteristic of neurodevelopmental disorders. I have over 20 years of experience with rodent behavioral research. I use rodent models and a range of behavioral and neuroanatomical approaches to define consequences of IDD-related genetic and environmental risk factors on behavioral brain output and underlying circuit function. We focus on identifying clinically-relevant phenotypes to understand the participation of IDD liabilities in the underlying brain circuits with a goal of identifying potential avenues of treatment. In addition, we couple our behavioral analyses with neuroanatomical techniques along with collaborative ‘omics analyses to interrogate the neurobiology underlying the behavioral phenotypes we define. We have identified unique and similar roles in neural circuit functions for genes implicated in IDDs such as ID, autism, ADHD, MYT1L Neurodevelopmental Syndrome, Neurofibromatosis Type 1, Börjeson-Forssman-Lehmann Syndrome, Tatton Brown Rahman Syndrome, Angelman Syndrome, and Williams Syndrome. In addition, I am Co-Director of the Model Systems Core and Director of the Animal Behavior Subunit of the IDDRC@WUSTL and, through these roles, work closely with other IDD investigators to facilitate collaborative phenotyping across the MSC units and understand behavior circuit function in their own models of IDD risk. Finally, as
a co-leader of our NIMH-funded Washington University Scalable Mouse Assay Center within the SSPsyGene consortium, I oversee a team of scientists focused on generating and behaviorally phenotyping cohorts of mice in pursuit of systematic assessment of 100+ASD/IDD genetic risk lines.
Recent Publications
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Persistence of vestibular function in the absence of glutamatergic transmission from hair cells
Mukhopadhyay, M., Modgekar, R., Yang-Hood, A., Ohlemiller, K. K., Militchin, V., Xiao, M., Shen, Z., Rensing, N. R., Wong, M., Lee, S. J., Seal, R. P., Holt, J. C., Warchol, M. E., Maloney, S. E., Yuede, C. M., Rutherford, M. A. & Pangrsic, T., Dec 2026, In: Scientific reports. 16, 1, 14550.
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A homecage operant paradigm reveals behavioral dynamics of social motivation in mice
Chen, Y., Maloney, S. E. & Kravitz, A. V., Apr 20 2026, In: Cell Reports Methods. 6, 4, 101374.
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ACSS2 mediates prenatal alcohol exposure-related morphological and behavioral phenotypes
Dodson, K. M., Periandri, E. M., Yadav, A., Lopes, M., Barfield, A. J., Ola, A., de Luna Vitorino, F. N., Cearlock, C., Garcia, B. A., Hill, C. A., Maloney, S. E. & Egervari, G., Apr 2026, In: Neurobiology of Disease. 221, 107341.
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Chromosomal and gonadal sex have differing effects on social motivation in mice
Chaturvedi, S. M., Sarafinovska, S., Selmanovic, D., McCullough, K. B., Swift, R. G., Maloney, S. E. & Dougherty, J. D., Dec 2025, In: Biology of Sex Differences. 16, 1, 13.
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The gain-of-function UBE3AQ588E variant causes Angelman-like neurodevelopmental phenotypes in mice
Weston, K. P., Gunelson, A. M., Maloney, S. E., Ge, X., Stelzer, J. A., Kim, K. S., Collier, S., Mindt, M. M., Agajanian, M. J., Major, M. B., Goldfarb, D., Noguchi, K. K. & Yi, J. J., Dec 2025, In: Scientific reports. 15, 1, 9152.