Nicole Calakos, M.D., Ph.D.
Young Investigator

Dr. Calakos received her M.D., Ph.D. training at Stanford University as part of the Medical Scientist Training Program. Her Ph.D. thesis work in the laboratory of Dr.
Richard Scheller identified protein interactions important for neurotransmitter release by synaptic vesicles. She was clinically trained as a neurologist at the University of California-San Francisco. Following this, she undertook a research fellowship in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Malenka where she used electrophysiological and molecular genetic techniques to understand how synaptic transmission changes in response to experience. She is currently an Assistant Professor at Duke University in the Center for Translational Neuroscience. In this capacity, she combines clinical care of Movement
Disorder patients with laboratory research into how synaptic transmission in the striatum affects behaviors such as the control of movement and decision-making. A central interest of her research group is to understand how abnormalities in striatal synaptic transmission contribute to the development of disorders such as OCD, addiction and
dystonia.

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