Abha K Rajbhandari, PhD

Dr. Rajbhandari is an Assistant Professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. Dr. Rajbhandari obtained her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where she studied the role of the amygdala sub-regions in regulation of stress and sensorimotor gating via norepinephrine and the neuropeptide- corticotropin releasing factor. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, Dr. Rajbhandari was a postdoctoral fellow at the University of California-Los Angeles, where her research was focused on understanding the role of the neuropeptide, pituitary adenylate cyclase activating peptide in regulation of fear and stress behaviors via amygdala sub-regions. She also developed a mouse model of stress-enhanced fear learning during her work.

Dr. Rajbhandari is a recipient of the Akira Arimura Award for Young Investigators for Excellence in VIP/PACAP Research, two times recipient of the Brain and Behavior foundations’ prestigious NARSAD award for young investigators, WhiteHall foundation grant and the Friedman Brain Institute Pilot Grant award.

At the Icahn School of Medicine. Dr. Rajbhandari’s team focuses on the brain, vagus nerve and body mechanisms of fear, stress and anxiety via neuromodulatory actions of norepinephrine and neuropeptides.

Karki lab website: https://labs.icahn.mssm.edu/karkilab/

Awards

2023 

Department of Defense Grant

2022

R21 from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases

2021
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young investigator Award

2020
WhiteHall Foundation Grants-In-Aid Award

2020-2021
Akira Arimura Young Investigator Grant

2020 
Friedman Brain Institute Scholars Award

2019
Arimura Award for Young Investigators for Excellence in VIP/PACAP Research

2017-2019
Brain and Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator Award

2015-2017
Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship

2010-2012
National Institute of Health Predoctoral Training Fellowship

2015: Trainee Professional Development Award, Society for Neuroscience

Language

English, Hindi, Nepali

PEER-REVIEWED JOURNAL ARTICLES
1. Patel S, Sparman NZR, Arneson D, Alvarsson A , Santos LC, Duesman SJ, Centonze A, Hathaway E, Ahn IS, Diamante G, Cely I, Cho CH, Talari NK, Rajbhandari AK, Goedeke L, Wang P, Butte AJ, Blanpain C, Krishnan KC, Lusis AJ, Stanley SA, Yang X, Rajbhandari . 2023. Nature. In Press.
2. Van C, Condro MC, Hrncir H, Diep AL, Rajbhandari AK, Fanselow M, Hashimoto H, Mackenzie-Graham AJ, Waschek JA. Overexpression of VIPR2 in mice results in microencephaly with paradoxical increased white matter volume. 2023.Experimental Neurology.
3. Khandelwal A, Cushman J, Wazir S, Choi J, Zhuravka I, Rajbhandari AK*, Valiulahi P, Li X, Zhou C, Comai L*, Sita Reddy1*. Mbnl2 inactivation alters cognition of novel spatial frameworks to impair object recognition memory. iScience. 2023.
4. Duesman SJ, Shetty S, Patel S, Ogale N, Mohamed F, Sparman N, Rajbhandari P, Rajbhandari AK. Sexually dimorphic role of the locus coeruleus PAC1 receptors in regulating acute stress-associated energy metabolism. 2022. Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
5. Rajbhandari AK , Octeau JC, Gonzalez S, Pennington ZT, Trott J, Chavez J, Ngyuen E, Keces N, Hong WZ, Neve RL, Waschek J, Khakh BS, Fanselow MS. A basomedial amygdala to intercalated cells microcircuit expressing PACAP and its receptor PAC1 in contextual fear regulation. 2021. Journal of Neuroscience. -Corresponding author
6. Rajbhandari P, Arneson D, Feng AC, Ahn IS, Diamante G, Zaghari N , Thomas BJ , Vergnes L , Lee SD , Rajbhandari AK*, Reue K, Smale ST, Yang X and Tontonoz P. Single Cell Analysis Reveals Immune Cell-Adipocyte Crosstalk Regulating the Transcription of Thermogenic Adipocytes. 2019. Elife.
7. Rajbhandari AK, Bakshi VP. Repeated norepinephrine receptor stimulation in the BNST induces sensorimotor gating deficits via corticotropin releasing factor. 2020. Neuropharmacology.
8. Pennington ZT, Trott, JM, Rajbhandari AK, Li K, Walwyn WM, Evans CJ, Fanselow MS. Chronic opioid pretreatment potentiates the sensitization of fear learning by trauma. 2019. Neuropsychopharmacology.
9. Nagai J, Rajbhandari AK, Gangwani MR, Hachisuka A, Coppola G, Sotiris MC, Fanselow MS, Khakh BS. Astrocytes induce acute hyperactivity in adult mice by reactivation of a latent synaptogenic cue. Cell. 2019.
10. Rajbhandari AK, Gonzalez ST, Fanselow MS. Stress-Enhanced Fear Learning, a Robust Rodent Model of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. Journal of Visualized Experiments. 2018.
11. Angarita S, Truong B, Khoja S, Lin MG, Lam AK, Nitzahn M, Rajbhandari AK, Zhuravka I, Duarte S, Cederbaum SD, Lipshutz GS. Human Hepatocyte Transplantation Corrects the Inherited Metabolic Liver Disorder Arginase Deficiency in Mice. Molecular Genetics and Metabolism. 2018.
12. Ago Y, Hayata-Takano A, Kawanai T, Yamauchi R, Takeuchi S, Cushman JD, Rajbhandari AK, Fanselow MS, Hashimoto H, Waschek JA. 2017. Impaired extinction of cued fear memory and abnormal dendritic morphology in the prelimbic and infralimbic cortices in VPAC2 receptor (VIPR2)-deficient mice. Neurobiology of Learning and memory. 145: 222-231
13. Rajbhandari AK, Zhu R, Adling C, Fanselow MS, Waschek JA. 2016. Graded fear generalization     enhances the level of cfos-positive neurons specifically in the basolateral amygdala. Journal of Neuroscience Research. 94(12):1393-133
14. Condro MC, Matynia A,Foster NN, Ago Y, Rajbhandari AK, Van C, Jayaram B, Parikh S, Diep AL, Nguyen E, May V, Dong HW, Waschek J. 2016. High-resolution characterization of a PACAP-EGFP transgenic mouse model: Mapping the circuitry of PACAP-expressing neurons. Journal of Comparative Neurobiology. 524(18):3287-3848
15. Rajbhandari AK, Bakshi VP. 2015. Trauma-induced CRF release causes lasting neuroadaptations in basolateral amygdala norepinephrine systems that promote PTSD-like startle abnormalities. Journal of Neuroscience. 35(42):14270-85 (*Press release of paper at Milwaukee, WI Journal Sentinal and UW-Madison).
16. Ago Y, Condro MC, Rajbhandari AK, Van C, Jayaram B, May V, Waschek J. 2016. PACAP modulation of CNS and peripheral inflammation. PACAP-Current Topics in Neurotoxicity, vol 11 pp651-670
17. Alsene KM*, Rajbhandari AK*, Ramaker MJ, and Bakshi VP. 2011. Discrete Forebrain Neuronal Networks Supporting Noradrenergic Regulation of Sensorimotor Gating. Neuropsychopharmacology. *=co-first authors. 36(5):1003-14
18. Baisley SK, Fallace KL, Rajbhandari AK, Bakshi VP. 2011. Mutual independence of 5-HT2 and α1 noradrenergic receptors in mediating deficits in sensorimotor gating. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 220(3):465-79
19. Taylor JL, Rajbhandari AK, Berridge KC, Aldridge JW. 2010. Dopamine receptor modulation of repetitive grooming actions in the rat: Potential relevance for Tourette syndrome. Brain Research. 1322:92-101

REVIEW ARTICLES
1. Nishimura KJ, Poulos A, Drew M, Rajbhandari AK. Know thy SEFL: Fear sensitization and its relevance to stressor-related disorders. 2022. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews.
2. Rajbhandari AK. Aversive Memory Storage in the Basolateral Amygdala: The Nut May Be Cracked. 2022. Biological Psychiatry
3. Rajbhandari AK, Tribble J, Fanselow MS. 2017. Neural circuits of fear memory. Learning and Memory: A Comprehensive Reference 2e.

PRESS COVERAGE
2019  Rajbhandari AK. UCLA Clinical and Translational Science Institute. Arimura Award for Young Investigators for Excellence in VIP/PACAP Research. https://ctsi.ucla.edu/news/item?item_id=780999

2015 Rajbhandari AK, Bakshi VP. 2015. Trauma-induced CRF release causes lasting neuroadaptations in basolateral amygdala norepinephrine systems that promote PTSD-like startle abnormalities. (*Press release of paper at Milwaukee, WI Journal Sentinal). http://archive.jsonline.com/blogs/news/351397551.html

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