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Mel Sharpe

@melissajsharpe.bsky.social
2.2K followers 1.2K following 75 posts

Associate Professor, University of Sydney 🇦🇺 UNSW | NIDA/Princeton | UCLA | USyd Neuroscience, Prefrontal Cortex, Dopamine, Lateral Hypothalamus, Reinforcement Learning, Wine. (She/Her).

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Reposted by Mel Sharpe
Molecular & Cellular Cognition Society @molcellcog.bsky.social · 17/09/2026
Meet the #MCCS26 speakers! Drs. Meaghan Creed and @melissajsharpe.bsky.social will be speaking at our Symposium on November 13. Register now: event.fourwaves.com/4599d6d4-273...
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Molecular & Cellular Cognition Society @molcellcog.bsky.social · 15/05/2026
Looking forward to your talks, @tjryan.bsky.social, @tristanshuman.bsky.social, @annamolofskylab.bsky.social, @melissajsharpe.bsky.social, Meaghan Creed, Elizabeth Buffalo, Bong-Kiun Kaang & Eric Klann!
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 05/01/2026
🚨 Proposals for @sfn.org Jan 21st 🚨 I’ve only been on the programming committee led by @nictritsch.bsky.social for a short time but already impressed with the vision for 2026 & @sfn.org’s service to our 🧠 community. This is a grear year to support @sfn.org & contribute to a smashing meeting! 🧪
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 08/12/2025
Over the moon to receive the happy news that I’m promoted to Associate Professor @sydney.edu.au! 🎉 Took a bit of a detour around the 🌎 to get here but worth the wait. So grateful for all the hard work from folks in the lab, my mentors, and letter writers who made it possible ❤️ 🧠 🧪
media.tenor.com
two men are standing next to each other in front of a refrigerator .
ALT: two men are standing next to each other in front of a refrigerator .
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 20/11/2025
LOVED this paper from @constantinoplelab.bsky.social showing how estrogen modulates reinforcement learning in @natureportfolio.nature.com Was also stoked to write the commentary for this paper with our superstar postdoc Masa Taira. Check it out 👇 🧠🧪
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 17/11/2025
Good morning everyone! Suitably following the #dopamine dinner, we have our #dopamine symposium at 9:30am in SDCC room 6B! ‘Beyond Value: Non-canonical roles for dopamine in aversion and reward’ Come join us! 🧠 🧪
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Pretty special dinner @sfn.org with these glorious women last night 🤩 ❤️ How do I have a job where I travel around the world and hang out with awesome people? @moriel-z.bsky.social @denisejcai.bsky.social @ladenardo.bsky.social @neurrriot.bsky.social @bjmarlin.bsky.social @debiaselm.bsky.social
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 16/11/2025
Full house for @earlkmiller.bsky.social’s Presidential Lecture @sfn.org tonight! I had to sneak in 🤫 inspiring to hear about the amazing work that drove my PhD thesis and so much more beyond 🤩
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 14/11/2025
Folks the Sharpe Lab are in the house for @sfn.org! 🎉 Come check out our talks and posters. We’ve been doing some cool stuff down under 🇦🇺 on dopamine, reinforcement learning, and remapping of the fear circuit. 🧠 🧪
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 23/09/2025
Is anyone using the IDEAS platform from #inscopix to analyze single-unit calcium data? 🔬🧪🧠
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 11/08/2025
Hosting the Pavlovian society annual meeting in SYDNEY was the highlight of my career! Thanks to all who came from near and far to present their awesome science. Looking forward to 2026 in Montreal. Come and join us!
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 18/07/2025
My first GRC amygdala in Barcelona hosted by @katewassum.bsky.social did not disappoint! Can’t wait for the next one with @joserodroma.bsky.social and @annabeyerle.bsky.social! ☀️🕶️🌴🌊
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E. Rosalie @erosalie.infoepi.com · 12/06/2025
Genetic material shed by tumors can be detected in the bloodstream three years before cancer diagnosis, according to a study led by investigators at Johns Hopkins University. That study was made possible with federal funding. Now, many studies like this are canceled. hub.jhu.edu/2025/06/04/...
hub.jhu.edu
Cancers can be detected in bloodstream three years prior to diagnosis
Detection of cancer before a clinical diagnosis could give patients and caregivers more time for intervention and may lead to better outcomes because tumors are more likely to be curable
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hakwan lau @hakwan.bsky.social · 15/05/2025
... neurons in the rodent dorsomedial prefrontal cortex (dmPFC) [link] sensory stimuli in the environment with aversive events, whether they were directly or *indirectly* associated with that experience.... by the amazing lab of @jojolab.bsky.social 🧠📈 www.nature.com/articles/s41...
nature.com
Prefrontal encoding of an internal model for emotional inference - Nature
Neurons in the rodent dorsomedial prefrontal cortex encode a flexible internal model of emotion by linking directly experienced and inferred associations with aversive experiences.
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David Clewett @davidclewett.bsky.social · 19/05/2025
New from our lab: your brain doesn’t just remember time - it bends it. We show that the dopamine system responds to natural breakpoints in experience, and this relates to more stretched memories of time. Blinking also increases, signaling encoding of new memories. www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1...
biorxiv.org
Dopaminergic processes predict temporal distortions in event memory
Our memories do not simply keep time - they warp it, bending the past to fit the structure of our experiences. For example, people tend to remember items as occurring farther apart in time if they spa...
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Moriel Zelikowsky @moriel-z.bsky.social · 13/05/2025
#whatkeepsmeinscience #community
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Keith Trujillo @neurochicano.bsky.social · 04/05/2025
Yes! We need to see more of this. 🧪
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 29/04/2025
One of the most epic trips of my life! Joshua Tree retreat with 11 of the most inspirational neuroscientists I know! Thx to Moriel Z and Bianca JM for organizing. And featuring Michelin star chef and yoga instructor @denisejcai.bsky.social Forever grateful for this crew Until next year ❤️ 🧪🧠
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Timothy Bredy @twbredy.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
Who’s coming to Sydney!?
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Laura Bradfield (she/her) @bradfield-neuro.bsky.social · 11/04/2025
It's gonna be epic!
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
🚨LAST DAY to submit poster abstracts for the PAVLOVIAN 2025 annual meeting 🚨 Check out our 🔥 program and submit abstracts in the link below, with 5 travel awards available for students and postdocs! 🧠
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Alicia Izquierdo @aliciaizquierdo.bsky.social · 10/04/2025
Anyone up for some cross-species discussions at Caltech on Friday afternoon? neuroscience.caltech.edu/programs/wor...
neuroscience.caltech.edu
Chen Institute Workshop on Cross-Species Modalities in Cognition and Behavior
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 07/04/2025
Big news from the lab this week! Successfully recorded lateral hypothalamic GABA neurons in freely moving rats using single-unit calcium imaging ! Led by a phenomenal postdoc in the lab, Jess Leake. And just in time for that grant deadline 🔥 🧠
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 31/03/2025
Kill me. … and of course I’m on a grant deadline 😭
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 25/03/2025
WTF?! 👇 Asprin reduces cancer metastasis?! @nature.com
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 24/03/2025
Been pinning up my favorite papers from the lab 🧪 that we’ve published since we got to Sydney 🇦🇺 ☀️ Going to have to take down the pics of my kid soon 😉 🧠
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Mark Cuban @mcuban.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
From 2010 to 2016 (latest data I have ), NIH research contributed to EVERY drug approved by the FDA
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Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez @aoc.bsky.social · 22/03/2025
Tonight an unbelievable **34,000 people** gathered for our Denver rally to take on billionaires and win our country back. This was the largest political gathering in Denver since Obama in 2008. Also bigger than the 2024 DNC. And the largest ever rally in Bernie’s career (and obviously, mine too).
AOC and Bernie in front of the rally crowd in DenverZoomed out crowd shot of 34,000 people in downtown Denver with Colorado mountains in the background
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Bridget Callaghan @drbcallaghan.bsky.social · 21/03/2025
Technically effective July 1st, but I need a celebration today. You are looking at Associate Professor with Tenure at UCLA. Tickled pink! 🤓🥳
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 20/03/2025
Don’t forget to submit your data blitz or poster abstracts for PAVLOVIAN in SYDNEY!🧪🧠 Due April 11th, including 5 x travel awards to help our buddies from the 🇺🇸 and elsewhere get to 🇦🇺 Our line up is 🔥 Check out our website, registration, and hotel block below 👇
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Tim Behrens @behrenstimb.bsky.social · 12/03/2025
Great news. Long term Independence for biorxiv and medrxiv.
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Adam Rogers @jetjocko.bsky.social · 11/03/2025
There is a vaccine against a virus that causes a particularly pernicious cancer, and since it was introduced deaths from that cancer have dropped by more than 60%. An unmitigated triumph of human genius. www.sciencefriday.com/segments/hpv...
sciencefriday.com
As Cervical Cancer Deaths Plummet, Experts Credit HPV Vaccine
HPV can cause a variety of cancers, including cervical. New mortality data for women under 25 point to the success of the HPV vaccine.
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 10/03/2025
My zen 🧘
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 04/03/2025
I cannot wait for this fabulous meeting in Barcelona led by the amazing @katewassum.bsky.social with vice chairs Anna Beyeler and Jose Rodriguez-Romaguera! 🧠 🧪 What a line up 🔥 Ironically, I will be presenting work that shows the amygdala can be rendered unnecessary for fear memories 👀 😬
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 03/03/2025
Love this 👇 MCH neurons in hypothalamus regulate policy complexity- might be consistent with our work examining GABA neurons in the lateral hypothalamus and learning about model-based associations: www.nature.com/articles/s41... Not just a feeding center folks 🧠 🧪
nature.com
Past experience shapes the neural circuits recruited for future learning - Nature Neuroscience
Sharpe et al. find that prior reward-learning experience can prime reward circuits to encode fear memories. This suggests prior experience can shape the way we learn, opening the neural boundaries for...
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 27/02/2025
🔥 PAVLOVIAN 2025 UPDATE 🔥 Call for Posters, Data Blitz, and Travel Awards for the SYDNEY Pavlovian Society meeting in Aug 7th-10th is open 🧠 🧪 We have 5 x US$1,000 in travel awards to support trainees! Check out our 🔥 hotel, line up of speakers, and APPLY here: pavlovian.org/upcoming-mee...
pavlovian.org
Upcoming Meeting — Pavlovian Society
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Having watched this project develop over years, I am so excited to see @jackiegio.bsky.social and @katewassum.bsky.social et al.’s paper out in @nature.com 🔥 🎉 They show that chronic stress changes the amygdala-striatal circuits involved in goal-directed action to increase habits 🧠 🧪
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 25/02/2025
Actual footage of me after being added to ANOTHER department committee 😭 🧠 🧪
media.tenor.com
a woman in a blue and white floral shirt is holding a purse
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samuel mehr @mehr.nz · 21/02/2025
I chatted with a program director at NIH for a half hour just now It's clear that the people who make American science happen are doing everything they can to keep making it happen in a very difficult environment They deserve our respect and gratitude
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 20/02/2025
I ❤️ this 👇 Newest from the Uchida lab in @nature.com: different aspects of distributional RL in separable populations of striatal D1 and D2 neurons 🔥
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Valeria Gonzalez, PhD @vgonzalez.bsky.social · 14/02/2025
Need to thank @melissajsharpe.bsky.social and @katewassum.bsky.social for letting me invade their spaces, get help from their team to learn optogenetics. This are much easier when you are surrounded by supportive women in science. And amazing to see the effect of ACC inhibition in 2 different tasks
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Alicia Izquierdo @aliciaizquierdo.bsky.social · 13/02/2025
This was a great collab with @melissajsharpe.bsky.social & @katewassum.bsky.social!Women in Science 👩‍🔬👩🏻‍🔬👩🏼‍🔬 🏆 3/n
media.tenor.com
a woman is holding a trophy and talking into a microphone at the golden globes awards .
ALT: a woman is holding a trophy and talking into a microphone at the golden globes awards .
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Kyle Cheney @kyledcheney.bsky.social · 10/02/2025
JUST IN: A federal judge in Massachusetts has blocked the Trump administration's rate change to NIH grants. storage.courtlistener.com/recap/gov.us...
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Colette Delawalla, PhD @cdelawalla.bsky.social · 09/02/2025
Get in Dorks, we are going protesting. STAND UP FOR SCIENCE. MARCH 7th 12-4pm. DC AND YOUR STATE CAPITALS. More information to come.
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 08/02/2025
This 👇 NIH issuing a directive to slash indirects to 15% from ~50%. This would significantly reduce the investment in universities and hospitals
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 03/02/2025
Just had one of my conferences get cancelled. I breathed a sigh of relief because I can’t with all this travel (even though all awesome trips!) 😮‍💨 Anyone else relate? How do we find the right balance in academia?
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Nicolas Tritsch @nictritsch.bsky.social · 02/02/2025
Was lazy about leaving Twitter, but can no longer justify it. So glad to see so many familiar faces here. I should have moved to Bluesky sooner!
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Mel Sharpe @melissajsharpe.bsky.social · 30/01/2025
Had one of the best conferences ever at #wcbr2025. Too much fun seeing everyone (last night’s dance floor was 🔥), hearing about all the awesome science, and being in one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever been. Can’t wait for Big Sky next year 😍
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Needhi Bhalla 💅🏽 @needhibhalla.bsky.social · 29/01/2025
🚨PIs of Training Grants and Programs, ESPECIALLY training grants that support students from historically excluded groups (T32s and T34s, IMSD, MARC, PREP, MOSAIC, etc.)🚨 We need to push back on the loss of information and the disappearance of websites about these resources.
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