The Neuroscience Graduate Program is thrilled to congratulate Ashley Plumb, PhD ’24, on receiving a prestigious NIH F32 postdoctoral fellowship to support her research at The University of Texas at Dallas.

Ashley’s $156,128 fellowship will provide two years of support for her postdoctoral research in the Sadler Lab, where she is investigating the connection between stress, the gut microbiome, and migraine susceptibility. Her work will examine how stress-induced changes in the gut microbiome may contribute to the development of migraine headaches, with the goal of better understanding the biological mechanisms underlying this debilitating neurological disorder.

The F32 is a highly competitive NIH fellowship designed to support promising postdoctoral researchers as they pursue advanced research training. Ashley’s award marks the first F32 fellowship in the Sadler Lab and only the third active F32 award at The University of Texas at Dallas.

Ashley’s research builds on the scientific training she received as a graduate student in the University of Iowa Neuroscience Graduate Program. She is continuing to ask important questions at the intersection of neuroscience and disease while expanding our understanding of the complex biological factors that influence migraine.

Congratulations, Ashley! We are so proud to see our alumni continuing to make exciting contributions to neuroscience and wish you all the best as you pursue this important research. We can’t wait to see what you discover next!