
Desiree Macchia
Graduate Student
I graduated with my bachelor’s from UC Berkeley in 2016 studying molecular and cell biology. After graduating, I stayed in San Francisco to work for the Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease as part of their behavioral core. I came to UC Irvine in 2018 through the neuroscience program and joined the Beier lab at the end of the year. My research focuses on understanding the neural circuitry underlying Alzheimer’s Disease progression. I am also interested in how drugs of abuse drive specific behavioral states related to drug taking and relapse. I am applying a variety of techniques ranging from molecular approaches to in-vivo imaging to address these questions. Outside of the lab, I enjoy café hopping, watching anything and everything on Netflix, and taking my two pups on long walks.