ABOUT DR. NIKKI CROWLEY

Nikki Crowley, PhD
pronouns: she/her
Assistant Professor, Department of Biology
Penn State University
Office: 326 Mueller Lab
Lab: 316 Mueller Lab
EDUCATION
Post-Doctoral Research Fellow Penn State University 2016-2017
PhD in Neurobiology University of North Carolina 2011-2015
MA in Psychology UNC Wilmington 2008-2011
BS in Psychology (minor: Statistics) James Madison University 2005-2008
Dr. Crowley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biology at Pennsylvania State University. She works at the intersection of ex vivo electrophysiology, systems neuroscience and behavioral health. Broadly, The Crowley Lab studies the cellular basis of alcohol addiction and it’s comorbidity with neuropsychiatric disorders—between sexes and across the lifespan. The lab's research agenda is motivated by a desire to understand how unique neurological insults may underlie alcohol addiction, and how age- and sex- specific treatments may be developed.
Before coming to Penn State, Dr. Crowley received her Bachelors in Psychology and Statistics, her Masters in Psychology, and was an Intramural Research Training Award Fellow at the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse. She then went on to receive her Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, in Neurobiology. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Bernhard Luscher in the Biology Department at PSU before joining the Department of Biobehavioral Health as an Assistant Research Professor. As of 2020, Dr. Crowley's lab is in the Department of Biology at Penn State.
Dr. Crowley is passionate about science education, outreach, and diversity in the lab. In her free time she enjoys yoga, cycling, and exploring central PA with her husband Max and their children Harrison and Alice.
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