Tracy L. Fetterly
Biography
Tracy L. Fetterly, Ph.D., is an Assistant Project Scientist in the Department of Neurobiology and Behavior at the University of California, Irvine. Her research focuses on the role of epigenetics in learning and memory and substance use disorder, with particular emphasis on understanding how alterations in epigenetic machinery result in neural circuitry changes which ultimately support changes in behavior.
Fetterly completed her doctoral work at Vanderbilt University, where she investigated glutamatergic inputs to stress-activated cells in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis and their relationship to stress-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking. Following her Ph.D., she conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Michigan, examining the relationship between diet, motivation for food, and changes in reward circuitry, with a focus on glutamatergic plasticity in the nucleus accumbens. Her work has contributed to understanding how calcium-permeable AMPA receptors are recruited in response to dietary and drug-related stimuli.
At UC Irvine, Fetterly has helped establish new lines of research within the Wood Lab. She also works closely with MODEL-AD projects and has established collaborations with several other UCI labs across campus. She has authored over a dozen peer-reviewed publications and has presented her research at national and international conferences. Fetterly has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students in electrophysiological and behavioral techniques and has served in various leadership roles.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, 2018
- B.A. in Honors in Neuroscience, Vanderbilt University, 2012
Distinctions
- Elaine Sanders Bush Research Award, Vanderbilt University, 2019
- Outstanding Poster Neuroscience Conference, University of Michigan, 2022
- Postdoc Outstanding Service to the Department, University of Michigan, 2020
Areas of Expertise
- Neuroscience of Addiction
- Nucleus Accumbens Glutamatergic Plasticity
- Stress-Activated Neural Circuits
- Reward Circuitry Modulation
- Cholinergic Interneuron Regulation
- Epigenetic Learning Mechanisms
- Junk-Food Diet Effects
Recent Publications
- Garcia F.G., Farias de Albuquerque M., Johnson V., Kramar E., Changizi K., Abdelkarim S., Augustynski A.S., Matheos D.P., Picone J., Fetterly T.L., Rodriguez A., Childs J., Gomez-Arboledas A., Winter J., Heller E., Baldi P., Wood M.A., “The nBAF complex subunit CREST/SS18L1 regulates hippocampal memory processes via tyrosine 397 and histone acetyltransferase CBP” (opens in new tab), Cell Reports, vol. 45, 2026.
- Fetterly TL, Alizo Vera V, Wood MA, “Reward mechanisms underlying substance use disorder: A role for learning and memory” (opens in new tab), Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference (Third Edition), vol. 2, pp. 639-656, 2025.
- Fetterly TL, Catalfio AM, Ferrario CR, “Effects of junk-food on food-motivated behavior and nucleus accumbens glutamate plasticity; insights into the mechanism of calcium-permeable AMPA receptor recruitment” (opens in new tab), Neuropharmacology, vol. 242, no. 1, pp. 109772, 2024.
- Catalfio AM, Fetterly TL, Nieto AM, Robinson TE, Ferrario CR, “Cocaine-induced sensitization and glutamate plasticity in the nucleus accumbens core: effects of sex” (opens in new tab), Biology of Sex Differences, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 41, 2023.
- Luchsinger JR, Fetterly TL, Williford KM, Salimando GJ, Doyle MA, Maldonado J, Simerly RB, Winder DG, Centanni SW, “Delineation of an insula-BNST circuit engaged by struggling behavior that regulates avoidance in mice” (opens in new tab), Nature Communications, vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 3561, 2021.
- Alonso-Caraballo Y, Fetterly TL, Jorgensen ET, Nieto AM, Brown TE, Ferrario CR, “Sex specific effects of "junk-food" diet on calcium permeable AMPA receptors and silent synapses in the nucleus accumbens core” (opens in new tab), Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 569-578, 2021.
- Fetterly TL, Oginsky MF, Nieto AM, Alonso-Caraballo Y, Santana-Rodriguez Z, Ferrario CR, “Insulin Bidirectionally Alters NAc Glutamatergic Transmission: Interactions between Insulin Receptor Activation, Endogenous Opioids, and Glutamate Release” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 41, no. 11, pp. 2360-2372, 2020.
- Fetterly TL, Basu A, Nabit BP, Awad E, Williford KM, Centanni SW, Matthews RT, Silberman Y, Winder DG, “α2A-Adrenergic Receptor Activation Decreases Parabrachial Nucleus Excitatory Drive onto BNST CRF Neurons and Reduces Their Activity In Vivo” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 39, no. 3, pp. 472-484, 2019.
- Centanni SW, Morris BD, Luchsinger JR, Bedse G, Fetterly TL, Patel S, Winder DG, “Endocannabinoid control of the insular-bed nucleus of the stria terminalis circuit regulates negative affective behavior associated with alcohol abstinence” (opens in new tab), Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 44, no. 3, pp. 526-537, 2019.
- Pomrenze MB, Fetterly TL, Winder DG, Messing RO, “The Corticotropin Releasing Factor Receptor 1 in Alcohol Use Disorder: Still a Valid Drug Target?” (opens in new tab), Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research, vol. 41, no. 12, pp. 1986-1999, 2017.
- Holleran KM, Wilson HH, Fetterly TL, Bluett RJ, Centanni SW, Gilfarb RA, Rocco LE, Patel S, Winder DG, “Ketamine and MAG Lipase Inhibitor-Dependent Reversal of Evolving Depressive-Like Behavior During Forced Abstinence From Alcohol Drinking” (opens in new tab), Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 41, no. 8, pp. 2062-71, 2016.
- Silberman Y, Fetterly TL, Awad EK, Milano EJ, Usdin TB, Winder DG, “Ethanol produces corticotropin-releasing factor receptor-dependent enhancement of spontaneous glutamatergic transmission in the mouse central amygdala” (opens in new tab), Alcoholism Clinical and Experimental Research, vol. 39, no. 11, pp. 2154-62, 2015.
- Kirby KA, Michailidis E, Fetterly TL, Steinbach MA, Singh K, Marchand B, Leslie MD, Hagedorn AN, Kodama EN, Marquez VE, Hughes SH, Mitsuya H, Parniak MA, Sarafianos SG, “Effects of substitutions at the 4' and 2 positions on the bioactivity of 4'-ethynyl-2-fluro-2'- deoxyadenosine” (opens in new tab), Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, vol. 57, no. 12, pp. 6254-64, 2013.
- Kirby KA, Marchand B, Ong YT, Ndongwe TP, Hachiya A, Michailidis E, Leslie MD, Sietsema DV, Fetterly TL, Dorst CA, Singh K, Wang Z, Parniak MA, Sarafianos SG, “Structural and inhibition studies of the RNase H function of xenotropic murine leukemia virus-related virus reverse transcriptase” (opens in new tab), Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, vol. 56, no. 4, pp. 2048-61, 2012.
Contact Information
Email: tfetterl@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-8519
Address: 200 Qureshey Research Lab
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Last updated on 10/28/2026.