Samantha was awarded her PhD in 2008 at the University of Tasmania where she studied the effects of the neuroregenerative protein metallothionein on the development and axonal regeneration of neurons.
Samantha joined the Schizophrenia Research Laboratory in 2008 and, her current research focuses on the normal developmental trajectories of inhibitory interneurons in the frontal cortex and how perturbations in this normal development may contribute to pathology in schizophrenia.
The development of the human frontal cortex is a protracted process and schizophrenia symptoms usually present in late adolescence/early adulthood so a major focus of her research is looking at molecular changes in the brain at the time of puberty and the effect of testosterone on neuronal development.
Samantha holds an Early Career Researcher Grant from the University of New South Wales and has presented her research at several recent national and international meetings including Society for Neuroscience, Schizophrenia International Research Symposium and the International Society for Developmental Neuroscience.
She has also recently published her schizophrenia research in high ranking psychiatry journals including The American Journal of Psychiatry and Biological Psychiatry.
