Nicole Ferrara, PhD

Being in the same institution for several years and being able to meet in person for the first time only recently is very common today because of all restrictions we had during COVID-19 pandemic. I was looking forward to meeting Dr. Nicole Ferrara in person and we finally sat together in the school’s cafeteria this summer. It was a great pleasure talking with Nicole, who just became our newest faculty. Dr. Ferrara joined the RFU in 2018 as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Pharmacology. Her research accomplishments are impressive. Nicole has published a total of 21 articles in high-impact factor journals, with 3 more articles in preparation or under review. Some of this work was funded by her awarded National Research Service Award (NRSA) grant through the
National Institute of Mental Health. I found her research very important and fascinating. I learned from Nicole about the amygdala, a region in the brain that is responsible for regulating emotions. Her work focuses on the way our brain processes emotions and fear and the neural mechanisms underlying how fear is learned and retained - these are the research questions that Nicole is working on.

We talked about the importance of a good undergraduate mentor for her research career during her undergrad studies at Albion College, MI. While she was a student, Dr. Wilson taught a neuroscience course in the Psychology Department and suggested that she should try doing a research project, leading to her honors
thesis. Nicole said that she likely would not have thought about pursing a doctoral program if not for her undergraduate mentor. This experience motivated Nicole to play an active role in mentorship. She currently participates in the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society mentorship program and leads the mentorship program for Women in Learning, a non-profit organization with members from across the country that provides a forum for undergrad and grad students doing scientific research in the broader fields of Learning Theory, Behavior, and Neuroscience to seek advice, support and guidance on the advancement of their careers. Nicole also serves as the Co-executive Director of Women in Learning, and she is very active in community outreach. She has participated in numerous events with the Engaging Girls in STEM program in the Milwaukee area.

Nicole continued to play an active role in outreach during her time as a doctoral and postdoctoral trainee. She felt her undergraduate mentorship really played a pivotal role as she earned both an MS and a PhD in Behavioral Science at the University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee in the lab of Dr. Fred Helmstetter. Here, Nicole
began work studying the role of fear memory processes in the amygdala, which led her to RFU for postdoctoral training in the lab of Dr. Amiel Rosenkranz. During our time together, she described how fortunate she has been to receive excellent mentorship and hopes to emulate this in her own lab.

Since September 2022, Dr. Nicole Ferrara has been an Assistant Professor at the Center for Neurobiology of Stress Resilience and Psychiatric Disorders at RFU. She found the school very welcoming and appreciates the good department relationships. Nicole believes it is important to increase the accessibility of research-related
opportunities and resources to aspiring scientists and students. This is how she developed a passion for pursuing research and made these amazing achievements while just starting her research career.

Svetlana (Lana) Dambaeva, PhD, D(ABMLI)
Director Clinical Immunology Laboratory,
Research Assistant Professor, Center for Cancer
Cell Biology, Immunology, and Infection,
Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science