Kerry J. Ressler BS, MD, PhD

Kerry Ressler, MD, PhD, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, researches the molecular and cellular mechanisms of fear learning and the process of extinction of fear in mouse models. The primary objective of the work in the Ressler lab is to use the power of molecular genetics to understand the molecular biology, neural circuitry and behavioral biology of fear and extinction of fear in mouse models.

Dr. Ressler is also a practicing psychiatrist with an interest in translational and clinical research on fear-based psychiatric disorders; he focuses on post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) at Grady Memorial Hospital. Dr. Ressler hopes that by understanding how fear works in the mammalian brain in the laboratory, it will improve understanding of and provide translational treatments and possibly prevention for fear-based disorders, such as PTSD, phobic disorders and panic disorder.

Dr. Ressler collaborates with a number of researchers at Yerkes, including Drs. Jocelyne Bachevalier, Michael Davis, Chris Muly, Stella Pappa, Todd Preuss, Donald Rainnie, Lary Walker, Mark Wilson and Larry Young.