Our Distinguished Speaker

Dr. Natalie Tronson

The Women in Learning team is proud to announce the 2025 distinguished speaker will be Dr. Natalie Tronson, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Michigan and Associate Chair of Graduate Studies.

Natalie grew up in Australia, where she completed her B.Sc (Psychology) with 1st Class Honours at the University of New South Wales. She then moved to the United States and performed her doctoral research at Yale University under Jane R. Taylor, PhD on mechanisms of memory reconsolidation. She subsequently worked as a post-doc with Jelena Radulovic, MD, PhD at Feinberg School of Medicine, Northwestern University, examining the signaling mechanisms and stress-enhancement of context fear conditioning.

Natalie’s current research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of learning and memory, the internal and external factors that can lead to changes in memory, and the role of memory dysregulation in psychiatric and neurological disorders like PTSD and post-operative cognitive decline. She is particularly intrigued by questions such as “Why do many patients develop PTSD after heart attack?” and “What causes cognitive and memory decline after surgery?” and “How do normal memories for trauma become pathological in PTSD?” and “Why are women so much more susceptible to these than males?”

Therefore, Natalie’s lab focuses on mechanisms by which neuroimmune signaling and stress lead to enhancements or impairments in long term memory formation, in the role of memory reconsolidation after retrieval in maladaptive memory, and the similarities and differences in how males and females form and modulate memory.

To study these questions, she integrates behavioral measures of memory in mice, including fear conditioning and appetitive Pavlovian conditioning, models of illness including surgical induction of myocardial infarction, and protein biochemistry to measure changes in cytokines, signal transduction, and transcription.

Aside from her stellar scientific track record, Natalie is a wonderful and beloved mentor. We are thrilled to welcome her as our distinguished speaker during this year’s luncheon.

For more information about Natalie and her lab, please visit her lab webpage here.