Dr. Haley Vecchiarelli
MSc, PhD Student (2012-2020)
Current: Postdoctoral Fellow, UVic

Contact: [email protected]
Research. ​​​My overarching research aims are to understand how the immune system and immune cells affect the brain to change behavior. After my time with the Hill lab, I joined Dr. Marie-Ève Tremblay's laboratory at the University of Victoria as a post-doctoral fellow.
​Hobbies. ​​I enjoy reading, video games, and cooking.​​​
Favourite paper. One of my favourite papers (there are many), is Nimmerjahn et al., 2005: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/308/5726/1314. These videos of how dynamic microglia are in the parenchyma are mesmerizing. ​​
Publications
Select Publications:
Comorbid anxiety-like behavior in a rat model of colitis is mediated by an upregulation of corticolimbic fatty acid amide hydrolase.
Vecchiarelli HA, Morena M, Keenan CM, Chiang V, Tan K, Qiao M, Leitl K, Santori A, Pittman QJ, Sharkey KA, Hill MN (2021).
Neuropsychopharmacology 46(5), 992-1003
LINK

Genetic Variants of Fatty Acid Amide Hydrolase Modulate Acute Inflammatory Responses to Colitis in Adult Male Mice
Vecchiarelli HA, Aukema RJ, Hume C, Chiang V, Morena M, Keenan CM, Nastase AS, Lee FS, Pittman QJ, Sharkey KA, Hill MN. (2021)
Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, published ahead of print
LINK

​Divergent Responses of Inflammatory Mediators in the Amygdala and Prefrontal Cortex to Acute Psychological Stress.
Vecchiarelli HA, Gandhi CP, Gray JM, Morena M, Hassan KI, Hill MN (2016)
Brain, Behavior and Immunity 51, 70-91
​LINK
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Full list of publications​
Awards
​PhD Vanier CGS (CIHR) (2016-2019)
PhD Killam (2018-2020)
PhD Alberta Innovates Graduate Studentship (2015-2019)
PhD Branch Out Neurological Foundation PhD Grant (2015-2019)
Postdoc CIHR Fellowship (2020-2023)
education
- B.A. Neuroscience and Behaviour (Barnard College) 2010 (Thesis Supervisor, Dr. Karen Bulloch, The Rockefeller University)
- MSc Neuroscience (UCalgary) 2014 (Dr. Matthew Hill)
- PhD Neuroscience (UCalgary) 2020 (Dr. Matthew Hill)
- Postdoctoral Fellow (UVic) 2020 (Dr. Marie-Éve Tremblay)
Research funded by Brain Canada, BONF, CFI, CIHR, NIH and NSERC. Many thanks to the University of Calgary Cumming School of Medicine, Hotchkiss Brain Institute, Mathison Centre, and Alberta Children's Hospital for their support.