About Us > Staff & Faculty > Emis Akbari

Emis Akbari

emisakbari@gmail.com
Post Doctoral Fellow, Atkinson Centre

Emis's research experience began during her undergraduate studies, where she completed her thesis under Dr. James Pfaus's supervision at the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN) at Concordia University in Montreal. During her graduate studies at U of T under the guidance of Dr. Alison Fleming, she examined the effects of early isolation on the hormonal, experiential and neurobiological regulation of sexual behaviour in rats with a focus on the dopamine (DA) and androgen systems.  Her interest in this field began with results from the Fleming laboratory demonstrating the long-lasting effects of early-life adversity on the quality of mothering in adulthood. Her interest in DA and sexual behaviour sparked her curiosity in the effects of such deprivation on the development of central DA function and how this may in turn affect sexual behaviour and if any of these deficits can be reversed.  During the course of her research, she has developed a keen interest in early life adversity, neural plasticity and its effects on brain and behaviour development.  

In 2007, Emis completed a research project with Dr. Marla Sokolowski in the Department of Biology at U of T. With a team of geneticists, she investigated the effects of parity and maternal behavior on gene expression in key brain regions in postpartum and virgin female rats. 

In 2009, she began a postdoctoral position in Dr. Alain Gratton's laboratory at the Douglas Hospital at McGill University.  Here she investigated the effects of birth complications and periods of oxygen deprivation on the development of medial prefrontal cortical function, the DA system and related behaviour. Higher incidences of birth complications have been reported in individuals that have schizophrenia, ADHD and /or substance abuse. Currently, she is translating her experience of early life adversity on behavioural development in animal models into human research.  It is here at OISIE she hopes to lend her knowledge in this field.

At the Atkinson Centre, Emis' goal is to investigate different available early intervention strategies for high risk families in their effectiveness to alter developmental trajectories and ultimately produce long-lasting changes in child social, emotional and cognitive outcomes.

Publications

Akbari, E.M., Shams, S., Belay, H.T., Mo, K., Razak, Z., Kent, C.F., Westwood, J.T., Sokolowski, M.B. & Fleming, A.S. (in prep). The Effects of Parity and Maternal Behavior in Gene Expression in  the Medial Preoptic Area and the Medial Amygdala in Postpartum and Virgin Females Rats: A Microarray Study.  Nature Genetics.

Akbari, EM; Rochford, J., Wall, M., MacDonald, K. & Gratton, A. (in prep). The Effects of Birth Complications and Pre-Pubertal Stress on Dopamine Mediated Behaviors: Implications for Substance Abuse and Schizophrenia.

Budin, R., Akbari, E.M., Fleming, A.S., Kraemer, G.W. (in prep). Isolation rearing differentially affects schedule-induced polydipsia in long-evans and sprague-dawley male rats. Physiology and Behavior.

Maheu,M.E., Akbari, E.M.& Fleming, A.S. (2009). Collasaloligodendrocyte number in postpartum sprague-dawley rats. Brain Research, 1267, 18-24.

Rees, S.L., Akbari, E.M., Fleming, A.S. (2008).  Effects of early deprivation and maternal separation on the juvenile maternal rat: Effect of exposure to foster pups on HPA axis measures. Developmental Psychobiology, 50(4), 315-21.

Akbari, E.M.; Budin, R., Parada, M., Fleming, A.S. (2008). The effects of early isolation on sexual behavior and c-fos expression in naïve male long-evans rats. Developmental Psychobiology, 50(3), 298-306.

Akbari, E.M.;Chatterjee, D., Levy, F., Fleming, A.S. (2007). Experience-dependent cell survival in the maternal circuit. Behavioral Neuroscience, 121(5), 1001-1011.