2. Profile
  3. Valeria C Torres Irizarry

Valeria C Torres Irizarry

Valeria C Torres Irizarry
Designation
  • Predoctoral Fellow
  • Graduate Student
  • Graduate Education in Medical Sciences (GEMS) PhD Program
  • Department of Medicine, UIC
Gender Pronouns
  • she/her
Contact Information
  • vtorre26 [at] uic.edu
  • College of Medicine Research Building (COMRB)
    909 S. Wolcott Avenue
    Chicago IL 60612
  • Room #:E610

Valeria is a graduate student from the Integrative and Translational Physiology (ITP) Research Concentration. She received her bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. Valeria is part of the Graduate Education in Biomedical Sciences (GEMS) Program and is doing her predoctoral training under the mentorship of Dr. Pingwen Xu. Her work consists of using optogenetic tools and neuronal tracing techniques to understand the role of estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) signaling in the brain and elucidate the mechanisms by which ERα-expressing neurons regulate adipose tissue function and energy homeostasis. Valeria is also an NSF Bridge to the Doctorate (BD) Program Fellow.

  • neuroendocrinology, metabolism
  • Estrogen Signaling in 5-HT-positive neurons in Dorsal Raphe Nuclei Modulate Binge Drinking

  • Hui Ye, Chunmei Wang, Kenji Saito, Yongjie Yang, Lucas Ibrahimi, Sarah Schaul, Nirali Patel, Leslie Saenz, Pei Luo, Penghua Lai, Valeria Torres Irizarry, Maya Kota, Devin Dixit, Xing Cai, Na Qu, Ilirjana Hyseni, Kaifan Yu, Bing Feng, Yuwei Jiang, Qingchun Tong, Zheng Sun, Benjamin R. Arenkiel, Yanlin He, Pingwen Xu, Yong Xu. An estrogen-sensitive hypothalamus-midbrain neural circuit controls thermogenesis and physical activity. Science Advances. (Under review). 

    Bing Feng, Jerney Harms, Patel Nirali, Hui Ye, Valeria Torres Irizarry, Ann Coulter, Frank Greenway, Hans-Rudolf Berthoud, Heike Münzberg, Christopher Morrison, Sangho Yu, Jia Fan, Pingwen Xu and Yanlin He. Targeting T-type calcium channel Cav3.2 expressed by the GABAergic neurons in the acute nucleus of hypothalamus to treat obesity. Molecular Metabolism. (Ready for submission). 
    Patel Nirali, Sarah Schaul, Lucas Ibrahimi, Hui Ye, Pei Luo, Leslie Saenz, Valeria Torres Irizarry, Penghua Lai, Maya Kota, Devin Dixit, Bing Feng, Yanlin He, and Pingwen Xu. Estrogen signaling in the dorsal raphe regulate binge-like drinking in mice. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. (Under preparation)