​​​​​Priscilla, a Brazilian native, started as a post-doctoral fellow in the lab of Liz Moss in Spring 2024, after earning her PhD in Neuroscience from Northwestern University. She was drawn to Portland and the Pacific Northwest by our mossy forests, mountains, chanterelles, and OHSU. Priscilla is committed to understanding decision-making mechanisms - from cell fate to wiring to behavior. During her PhD in Talia Lerner's lab, she studied basal ganglia circuits underlying habit formation – and characterized dopamine circuits mediating the crosstalk between dorsomedial and dorsolateral striatum. In the Moss lab, she hopes to expand her electrophysiology and imaging expertise to uncover complete stories about how decisions made by individual neurons impact the dynamics of neural circuits and ultimately affect the decisions made by the whole organism. Outside of the lab, Priscilla is often covered in cat fur, clay and/or dirt, as she loves playing with her two cats, making ceramic sculptures, and scrambling in the great outdoors. If you have any pointers on how to attract birds to her window bird feeder please let her know!