• Junior Investigator Award, Research Society on Alcoholism (2021)
• Enoch Gordis Research Recognition Award, Research Society on Alcoholism (2020)
• Postdoctoral Fellowship, The Hartwell Foundation (2019)
• Junior Investigator Award, Research Society on Alcoholism (2019)

• Organization for the Study of Sex Differences
• Research Society on Alcoholism
• Society for Neuroscience
• Philadelphia Chapter, Society for Neuroscience

Dr. Giacometti’s research in the Barker Lab investigates sex differences and hormonal regulation of reward seeking and astrocyte function as well as the mechanisms by which reward seeking is dysregulated following insults to the brain. Despite increasing evidence that men and women exhibit innate and acquired sex differences in brain and behavior, women and female animals have historically been excluded from clinical and preclinical studies. Therefore, we aim to identify overlapping and distinct mechanisms of dysregulated reward seeking in people of all genders to further the development of targeted treatment strategies.

Hormones are major regulators of drug craving, which may impact susceptibility to relapse. However, the mechanisms by which hormones regulate reward seeking remain unclear. We are also interested in how insults to the brain such as chronic drug and alcohol exposure and HIV infection can dysregulate hormone levels and estrous cyclicity and the subsequent impact on reward seeking. Our studies often focus on astrocytes, as they are one of the major cell types impacted by hormone signaling and a major producer of neurosteroids in the brain. Modulation of astrocyte function may thus represent a novel approach to regulate neurotransmission and behavior following insults to the brain.

Collectively, our research leverages pharmacology, chemogenetics, and fiber photometry to address the existing gap in our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms by which sex and hormones regulate innate behavior and aberrant behavior following insult to the brain.

“Impaired extinction of cocaine seeking in HIV-infected mice is accompanied by peripheral and central immune dysregulation”
Buck LA, Xie Q, Willis M, Side CM, Giacometti LL, Gaskill PJ, Park K, Shaheen F, Guo L, Gorantla S, Barker JM
Communications Biology. 2024 Mar 30;7(1):387. doi: 10.1038/s42003-024-06079-8. PMID: 38553542

“Effects of adolescent ethanol exposure on adult nondrug reward seeking behavior in male and female mice”
Giacometti LL, Side CM, Chandran K, Stine S, Buck LA, Wenzel-Rideout RM, Barker JM
Alcohol Clinical and Experimental Research. 2023 Sep;47(9):1736-1747. doi: 10.1111/acer.15151. Epub 2023 Jul 18. PMID: 37438117

“Estrous cycle and hormone regulation of stress-induced reinstatement of reward seeking in female mice”
Giacometti LL, Buck LA, Barker JM
Addiction Neuroscience. 2022 Dec;4:100035. doi: 10.1016/j.addicn.2022.100035. Epub 2022 Sep 9. PMID: 36540408

“Sex and estrous-phase dependent alterations in depression-like behavior following mild traumatic brain injury in adolescent rats”
Giacometti LL, Huh JW, Raghupathi R
Journal of Neuroscience Research. 2022 Feb;100(2):490-505. doi: 10.1002/jnr.24989. Epub 2021 Dec 1. PMID: 34850450

“Brain region-dependent alterations in polysialic acid immunoreactivity across the estrous cycle in mice”
Giacometti LL, Huang F, Hamilton BS, Barker JM
Hormones and Behavior. 2020 Nov;126:104851. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2020.104851. Epub 2020 Sep 18. PMID: 32941849

“Astrocyte modulation of extinction impairments in ethanol-dependent female mice”
Giacometti LL, Chandran K, Figueroa LA, Barker JM
Neuropharmacology. 2020 Nov 15;179:108272. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2020.108272. Epub 2020 Aug 13. PMID: 32801026

“Sex differences in the glutamate system: Implications for addiction”
Giacometti LL, Barker JM
Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews. 2020 Jun;113:157-168. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2020.03.010. Epub 2020 Mar 12. PMID: 32173404

“Comorbid HIV infection and alcohol use disorders: Converging glutamatergic and dopaminergic mechanisms underlying neurocognitive dysfunction”
Giacometti LL, Barker JM
Brain Research. 2019 Nov 15;1723:146390. doi: 10.1016/j.brainres.2019.146390. Epub 2019 Aug 14. PMID: 31421128