Rate My Professor Lizzie Manning

Dr Lizzie Manning is a Senior Lecturer in Physiology in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy at the University of Newcastle, Australia, part of the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing. She holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Melbourne and the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, completed in 2014, and an undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences. Following her doctorate, Manning conducted postdoctoral research from 2014 to 2020 in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pittsburgh, specializing in translational models of obsessive-compulsive disorder under A/Prof Susanne Ahmari. She returned to Australia in 2020, joining the University of Newcastle as a Research Associate until early 2022, after which she was appointed to a continuing lecturer position and promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2024.

Her research focuses on the neuroscience of inflexible behaviors across mental health disorders, including obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, Tourette’s syndrome, and schizophrenia. Employing techniques such as optogenetics, in vivo calcium imaging, and behavioral assays in mouse models like Sapap3 knockouts, Manning investigates cortico-striatal circuitry, hypothalamic stress pathways, and basal ganglia functions in compulsive and perseverative behaviors. Notable publications include ‘Hyperactivity of indirect pathway-projecting spiny projection neurons promotes compulsive behavior’ (Nature Communications, 2024), ‘Distinct Patterns of Abnormal Lateral Orbitofrontal Cortex Activity During Compulsive Grooming and Reversal Learning Normalize After Fluoxetine’ (Biological Psychiatry, 2023), ‘Hypothalamic corticotrophin releasing hormone neurons in stress-induced psychopathology: Revaluation of synaptic contributions’ (Journal of Neuroendocrinology, 2023), and ‘Disruption of prepulse inhibition is associated with compulsive behavior severity and nucleus accumbens dopamine receptor changes in Sapap3 knockout mice’ (Scientific Reports, 2021). Manning has secured funding from the NHMRC and ARC, and received awards such as the Early Career Achievement Award (IBNS, 2021), Mid-Career Research Award (CHMW, 2023), and multiple travel and poster awards. She coordinates HUBS2203 Introductory Pharmacology, lectures in neuroscience and pharmacology courses, co-chairs the school's Indigenous Student Engagement Committee, and contributes to equity initiatives in neuroscience societies. Additionally, she co-founded the ‘Mindscapes’ art event to combat mental health stigma.