Dominika J. Burek, PhD

Dominika J. Burek, PhD, studied neuroinflammation during her BA in cellular neuroscience at Colgate University and the molecular biology of addiction and depression as a research assistant in Dr. Eric Nestler’s laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As a graduate student in Dr. Jose Moron-Concepcion’s laboratory at Washington University in St. Louis, she examined the negative affective component of inflammatory pain using behavioral phenotyping and preclinical meta-analysis.

Currently with Dr. Bill Carlezon in the Behavioral Genetics Laboratory at McLean Hospital, Dr. Burek uses highly translational models of psychosocial stress and telemetry to study the molecular and cell type-specific mechanisms of stress-induced alterations in sleep architecture and diurnal rhythms. Her collaborations within McLean include reverse-translational models of cognitive control and reward responsiveness with Dr. Brian Kangas and cross-species digital phenotyping with Dr. Justin Baker. She is a recipient of a 2023-2025 Phyllis & Jerome Lyle Rappaport Mental Health Research Scholar Award.