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Alicia Y Che, PhD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
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Additional Titles

Director of Graduate Admissions, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program

About

Titles

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry

Director of Graduate Admissions, Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program

Biography

Dr. Che joined the faculty of Yale Department of Psychiatry in 2021, after completing her postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Natalia De Marco García at Weill Cornell Medical College and Dr. Gord Fishell at NYU. She earned a Ph.D. in Physiology and Neurobiology in the laboratory of Dr. Joseph LoTurco at the University of Connecticut in 2014. She received a B.S. triple-majoring in Biology, Physics and Physical Chemistry at Pacific Lutheran University in Washington state in 2009.

Appointments

Education & Training

PhD
University of Connecticut, Physiology and Neurobiology (2014)
BS
Pacific Lutheran University, Biology, Physics, Physical Chemistry (2009)

Research

Overview

Project 1. The Role of Oxytocin on the Development of Social Behavior

Touch contributes powerfully to parent-infant interactions that are fundamental for early social behavior development. Abnormalities in tactile perception are prevalent features in individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD), exacerbating the core social deficits. While the neural mechanisms underlying the interplay between tactile input and social behavior is not yet known, a prominent route through which social information can be conveyed to neurons is oxytocin signaling. In neurons, oxytocin modulates inhibition to increase signal-to-noise ratios, promote long-term synaptic plasticity, and enhance the salience of socially-relevant stimuli. We are investigating how oxytocin facilitates the development of social touch on a circuit level. We use a combination of techniques including mouse genetics, slice electrophysiology, longitudinal in vivo 2-photon imaging on behaving animals to reveal how circuits underlying whisker-dependent social interaction is established.


Project 2. Circuit Dysfunction in PTSD

PTSD is a debilitating disorder involving intrusive memories of a traumatic events, which are due in part to an inability to modify responses to stimuli that are no longer threatening – a process known as extinction. The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) plays a critical role in extinction, however the circuit-level mechanisms that support extinction learning in the mPFC are not completely understood. Recent TWAS and gene expression studies on PTSD postmortem brain revealed numerous dysregulated genes expressed in GABAergic neurons in the dlPFC that are also key drivers capable of coordinating transcriptomic organization. We aim to understand how these genes are involved in fear extinction on cellular, circuit and functional levels with an emphasis on the developmental period, leveraging new technologies for cell type-specific genetic manipulations and 2-photon imaging through chronically implanted microprisms.


Research at a Glance

Publications Timeline

A big-picture view of Alicia Y Che's research output by year.
14Publications
222Citations

Publications

2023

2021

2020

2018

2017

2015

2014

Academic Achievements & Community Involvement

  • honor

    NARSAD Young Investigator Award

  • honor

    K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award

Get In Touch

Contacts

Locations

  • Connecticut Mental Health Center

    Academic Office

    34 Park Street, Rm W215

    New Haven, CT 06519