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Jenna Ann McHenry

Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience
Psychology & Neuroscience
GSRB II Rm 3022, Box 91050, Durham, NC 27708
GSRB II Rm 3022, Box 91050, Durham, NC 27708

Selected Grants


Neurobiology Training Program

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

Establishing neural circuits for social homeostatis

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2027

Illuminating socially-modulated homeostatic control circuits in the mouse

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative · 2022 - 2025

Influence of prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress on microglial sculpting of neural circuits

ResearchAdvisor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2023

Dissecting midbrain and preoptic circuits that regulate social and nonsocial emotional states

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2022

Neurobiology Training Program

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

Establishing neural circuits for social homeostatis

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2027

Illuminating socially-modulated homeostatic control circuits in the mouse

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Simons Foundation Autism Research Initiative · 2022 - 2025

Influence of prenatal exposure to air pollution and maternal stress on microglial sculpting of neural circuits

ResearchAdvisor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2023

Dissecting midbrain and preoptic circuits that regulate social and nonsocial emotional states

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2022

Zeiss Lightsheet Upgrade to Expand Imaging Capabilities

EquipmentMinor User · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2022

Fellowships, Gifts, and Supported Research


Functional interrogation of reproductive peripheral-brain circuits for controlling social and affective states · January 2020 - January 2021 PI · Duke Incubator Award The major goals of this project are to examine the functional connectivity of reproductive-to-brain circuits and aims to elucidate the sensory transduction within female ovarian cells.
Dissecting midbrain and preoptic circuits that regulate social and nonsocial emotional states · September 2017 - September 2021 PI · K99 Pathway to Independence Award The major goals of this project are to use in vivo multiphoton imaging and optogenetic approaches to define and characterize socially-tuned preoptic-to-midbrain reward circuits.
Visualizing network dynamics in hormone-responsive reward circuits · August 2017 - January 2020 PI · NARSAD Young Investigator Award, The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation The major goals of this project are to use in vivo deep brain imaging to disentangle divergent reward and aversion encoding, across hormonal states, in the brain of female mice.
Single cell transcriptional profiling to identify novel neurocircuit targets for reproductive mood disorders · July 2016 - July 2019 Foundation of Hope The major goals of this project are to perform single-cell sequencing of neurons in hypothalamic brain regions, and compare expression profiles across disparate sex-specific reproductive states.
Deconstructing maternal circuit elements that underlie anxiety and motivation · May 2015 - May 2019 PI · Foundation of Hope
Functional interrogation of reproductive peripheral-brain circuits for controlling social and affective states · January 2020 - January 2021 PI · Duke Incubator Award The major goals of this project are to examine the functional connectivity of reproductive-to-brain circuits and aims to elucidate the sensory transduction within female ovarian cells.
Dissecting midbrain and preoptic circuits that regulate social and nonsocial emotional states · September 2017 - September 2021 PI · K99 Pathway to Independence Award The major goals of this project are to use in vivo multiphoton imaging and optogenetic approaches to define and characterize socially-tuned preoptic-to-midbrain reward circuits.
Visualizing network dynamics in hormone-responsive reward circuits · August 2017 - January 2020 PI · NARSAD Young Investigator Award, The Brain and Behavior Research Foundation The major goals of this project are to use in vivo deep brain imaging to disentangle divergent reward and aversion encoding, across hormonal states, in the brain of female mice.
Single cell transcriptional profiling to identify novel neurocircuit targets for reproductive mood disorders · July 2016 - July 2019 Foundation of Hope The major goals of this project are to perform single-cell sequencing of neurons in hypothalamic brain regions, and compare expression profiles across disparate sex-specific reproductive states.
Deconstructing maternal circuit elements that underlie anxiety and motivation · May 2015 - May 2019 PI · Foundation of Hope
Sex-specific midbrain neural circuits that underlie divergent motivational states · June 2014 - June 2016 NIDA This grant is a sex-differences administrative supplement that provides additional funds to conduct research that examines sex-specific circuit processing in midbrain reward systems.
Postdoctoral fellowship in reproductive mood disorders · December 2013 - December 2016 NIMH, UNC School of Medicine, Dept. of Psychiatry, Women's Mood Disorder Center
Effects of social experience on behavioral and neuronal stress response in males and females · December 2012 - December 2013 National Science Foundation, Dissertation Grant This grant explored how social (mating and non-sexual) interactions buffer stress responses through interactions between neural systems that underlie stress and social behavior.