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Luísa Bertotto

Luísa Bertotto

Assistant Project Scientist, University of California, Irvine
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Biography

Luísa Bertotto, Ph.D., is an Assistant Project Scientist at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on the intermediate cell fates of human embryonic stem cells during osteoblast differentiation and the mechanisms underlying abnormal bone formation. Prior to this position, she conducted research on the neural substrates of motivated behavior in alcohol use disorder models and served as Co-Investigator on an Alcohol Research Center NIH grant at The Scripps Research Institute.

Bertotto received a Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology from the University of California, Riverside in 2018 and completed postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute and at the United States Environmental Protection Agency. Her doctoral research examined the effects of pesticide exposure on estrogenic and dopaminergic pathways in zebrafish, while her postdoctoral work investigated alcohol-related behaviors and gene expression in rodent models. She has also studied the relationship between gut microbiome and neurobehavioral development in zebrafish embryos.

Bertotto received the Nadia Chaudhri Rising Scholar Award from the Research Society in Alcoholism in 2023 and first place for her postdoctoral poster presentation at the Reproduction and Developmental Toxicology Specialty Section at the 2025 Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting. She has mentored more than 15 undergraduate students and received a Bachelor's degree in Biomedicine from Universidade Luterana Do Brasil in 2014.

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Education

  • Ph.D. in Environmental Toxicology, University of California, Riverside, 2018
  • Bachelor's degree in Biomedicine, Universidade Luterana Do Brasil, 2014
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Distinctions

  • NIH/NIAAA T32 Institutional Post-doctoral Fellowship, Scripps Research Institute, 2021
  • Nadia Chaudhri Rising Scholar Award, Research Society in Alcoholism, 2023
  • Wilson Presentation Award, Teratology Society, 2019
  • First place post-doc poster presentation, Reproduction and Developmental Toxicology Specialty Section, Society of Toxicology, 2025
  • Science without Borders (Brazilian Government) full scholarship, University of California, Riverside, 2014-2018
  • Dean's Distinguished Fellowship Award, University of California, Riverside, 2014-2018
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Areas of Expertise

  • Neurotoxicology and Behavioral Pharmacology
  • Dopaminergic Pathway Modulation
  • Zebrafish Embryo Developmental Toxicity
  • Estrogenic Signaling Mechanisms
  • Alcohol Use Disorder Neurobiology
  • Stem Cell Osteoblast Differentiation
  • Gut Microbiome Neurodevelopmental Interactions

Recent Publications

  • Favoretto, C.A., Nguyen, A., Chacon, G.R., Roberts, A.J., Nadav, T., Ranjan, S., Bertotto, L.B., Cruz, F.C., Zorrilla, E.P., “Impacts of chronic intermittent ethanol vapor and predator odor on ethanol intake and striatal D1 and CB1 cannabinoid receptor-expressing medium spiny neurons”, Frontiers in Neuroscience, vol. 19, pp. 1568952, 2025.
  • Bertotto, L. B., Sakoulas, E. M., Logrip, M. L., Lin, K., Pimentel, A. E., Thompson, L., Zorrilla, E. P., “Central amygdala Fkbp5 expression correlates with faster submission and ethanol self-administration reacquisition: Benztropine reduces ethanol relapse-like reacquisition in stressed rats”, Neurobiology of Stress, pp. 100770, 2025.
  • Bertotto LB, Lampson-Stixrud D, Sinha A, Rohani NK, Myer I, Zorrilla EP, “Effects of the Phosphodiesterase 10A Inhibitor MR1916 on Alcohol Self-Administration and Striatal Gene Expression in Post-Chronic Intermittent Ethanol-Exposed Rats”, Cells, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 321, 2024.
  • Cruz, B., Vozella, V., Borgonetti, V., Bullard, R., Bianchi, P.C., Kirson, D., Bertotto, L.B., Bajo, M., Vlkolinsky, R., Messing, R.O., Zorrilla, E.P., Roberto, M., “Chemogenetic inhibition of central amygdala CRF-expressing neurons decreases alcohol intake but not trauma-related behaviors in a rat model of post-traumatic stress and alcohol use disorder”, Molecular Psychiatry, pp. 1-11, 2024.
  • Gustfeld, S., Wehmas, L. C., Omoyeni, I., Schweiger, N., Leuthold, D., Michaelis, P., Howey, X. M., Gaballah, S., Herold, N., Vogs, C., Wood, C., Bertotto, L. B., Wu, G., Klüver, N., Busch, W., Scholz, S., Tal, T., “Investigation of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor delta (ppard)-dependent visual startle response hyperactivity in larval zebrafish exposed to structurally similar Per- and Polyfluoroalkyl Substances (PFAS)”, Environmental Health Perspectives, vol. 132, no. 7, pp. 77007, 2024.
  • Li, S., Hu, T., Bertotto, L. B., Jiang, Y., Gui, W., Schlenk, D., “Pesticide and surfactant mixtures alter sexual differentiation in Japanese medaka (Oryzias latipes)”, ACS ES&T Water, vol. 1, no. 6, pp. 1533-1540, 2021.
  • Bertotto, L. B., Catron, T. R., Tal, T., “Exploring interactions between xenobiotics, microbiota, and neurotoxicity in zebrafish”, Neurotoxicology, vol. 76, pp. 235-244, 2020.
  • Grønnestad, R., Schlenk, D., Krøkje, Å., Jaspers, V. L., Jenssen, B. M., Coffin, S., Bertotto, L. B., Giroux, M., Lyche, J. L., Arukwe, A., “Alteration of neuro-dopamine and steroid hormone homeostasis in wild Bank voles in relation to tissue concentrations of PFAS at a Nordic skiing area”, Science of The Total Environment, pp. 143745, 2020.
  • Bertotto, L. B., Dasgupta, S., Vliet, S., Dudley, S., Gan, J., Volz, D. C., Schlenk, D., “Evaluation of the estrogen receptor alpha as a possible target of bifenthrin effects in the estrogenic and dopaminergic signaling pathways in zebrafish embryos”, Science of the Total Environment, vol. 651, pp. 2424-2431, 2019.
  • Khan, E. A., Bertotto, L. B., Dale, K., Lille-Langøy, R., Yadetie, F., Karlsen, O. A., Goksøyr, A., Schlenk, D., Arukwe, A., “Modulation of neuro-dopamine homeostasis in juvenile female Atlantic cod (Gadus morhua) exposed to polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and perfluoroalkyl substances”, Environmental science & technology, vol. 53, no. 12, pp. 7036-7044, 2019.
  • Bertotto, L. B., Bruce, R., Li, S., Richards, J., Sikder, R., Baljkas, L., Giroux, M., Gan, J., Schlenk, D., “Effects of bifenthrin on sex differentiation in Japanese Medaka (Oryzias latipes)”, Environmental research, vol. 177, pp. 108564, 2019.
  • Bertotto, L. B., Richards, J., Gan, J., Volz, D. C., Schlenk, D., “Effects of bifenthrin exposure on the estrogenic and dopaminergic pathways in zebrafish embryos and juveniles”, Environmental toxicology and chemistry, vol. 37, no. 1, pp. 236-246, 2018.
  • Luisa B Bertotto, Eleanna M Sakoulas, Marian L Logrip, Katrina Lin, Anastasia E Pimentel, Lenwood Thompson, Bryan Cruz, Valentina Vozella, Cristiane A Favoretto, Marisa Roberto, Eric P Zorrilla, “Central amygdala Fkbp5 expression correlates with faster submission and ethanol self-administration reacquisition: Benztropine reduces ethanol relapse-like reacquisition in stressed rats” (opens in new tab), .
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Contact Information

Website: https://www.linkedin.com/in/luísa-bertotto/

Email: lbeckerb@uci.edu

Address: Falling Leaves Foundation Medical Innovation Building

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This profile was created with the help of AI.

Last updated on 5/22/2026.