Dr. Yao-Ying Ma, a M.D. & Ph.D., has been investigating the neurobiology mechanisms underlying substance abuse for 20 years and has successfully extended her expertise into neurodegenerative diseases research since she became an independent PI. After earning her Ph.D. in 2006 at Peking University, one of the most prestigious universities in Asia, Dr. Ma first started a research fellow position in the Department of Psychiatry, McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. From 2008 to 2011, she went on to work as a postdoctoral researcher with Drs. Christopher Evans and Michael Levin in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at UCLA. After that, she continued her research training in addiction neurobiology as a postdoctoral associate with Dr. Yan Dong in the Department of Neuroscience, University of Pittsburgh.

In 2015, Dr. Ma was appointed as a Tenure-track Assistant Professor in the Behavioral Neuroscience Program, Department of Psychology, Binghamton University-SUNY. She joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Indiana University School of Medicine and IU Stark Neurosciences Research Institute in July of 2018 as an Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience. 

Guo C, Wen D, Zhang Y, Mustaklem R, Mustaklem B, Zhou M, Ma T, Ma YY. Amyloid-β oligomers in the nucleus accumbens decrease motivation via insertion of calcium-permeable AMPA receptors. Molecular Psychiatry. 2022 Feb 2. PMID: 35105968 (IF:16)

Roselli V, Guo C, Huang D, Wen D, Zona D, Liang T, Ma YY. Prenatal alcohol exposure reduces posterior dorsomedial striatum excitability and motivation in a sex- and age-dependent fashion. Neuropharmacology. 2020 Dec 1; 180:108310. ; PMID: 32950559 (IF:5.3)

Shan L, Galaj E, Ma YY. Nucleus accumbens shell small conductance potassium channels underlie adolescent ethanol exposure-induced anxiety. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019 Oct; 44 (11):1886-1895. PMID: 31096263 (IF:7.9)

Ma YY, Wang X, Huang Y, Marie H, Nestler EJ, Schlüter OM, Dong Y. Re-silencing of silent synapses unmasks anti-relapse effects of environmental enrichment. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2016 May 3;113(18):5089-94. PMID: 27091967 (IF:11)

Ma YY, Lee BR, Wang X, Guo C, Liu L, Cui R, Lan Y, Balcita-Pedicino JJ, Wolf ME, Sesack SR, Shaham Y, Schlüter OM, Huang YH, Dong Y. Bidirectional modulation of incubation of cocaine craving by silent synapse-based remodeling of prefrontal cortex to accumbens projections. Neuron. 2014 Sep 17;83(6):1453-67. PMID: 25199705 (IF:17)

Lee BR, Ma YY (Co-first Author), Huang YH, Wang X, Otaka M, Ishikawa M, Neumann PA, Graziane NM, Brown TE, Suska A, Guo C, Lobo MK, Sesack SR, Wolf ME, Nestler EJ, Shaham Y, Schlüter OM, Dong Y. Maturation of silent synapses in amygdala-accumbens projection contributes to incubation of cocaine craving. Nat Neurosci. 2013 Nov;16 (11):1644-51. PMID: 24077564 (IF: 25)