- Assistant Professor
Biography
Dr. Emily Qualls-Creekmore joined the college in 2021 as an assistant professor in the Department of Integrative Physiology and Neuroscience. She earned her doctorate at Louisiana State University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Pennington Biomedical Research Center-LSU. Dr. Qualls-Creekmore’s research focuses on stress neurobiology, examining how different stressors and their characteristics influence behavior and physiology. Her lab investigates two major areas: how stress affects motivated behavior, identifying the brain circuits and neurotransmitters involved, and how stress impacts gastrointestinal function via the gut-brain axis. The first area aims to understand the role of stress in substance use disorders, feeding disorders, and depression. The second area explores the contribution of stress to disorders like irritable bowel syndrome and functional dyspepsia. Additionally, she is committed to developing models to study sex differences in stress neurobiology, addressing the historical gap in preclinical research involving females.
Education
- Postdoctoral Training, Pennington Biomedical Research Center, 2013-2017
- PhD, Biomedical Science, Louisiana State University, School of Veterinary Medicine, 2013
- MA, Psychology, University of West Florida, 2007
- BA, Psychology, University of West Florida, 2004
Research Interest
- Neuropeptides
- Stress
- Reward processing
- Gut-brain axis
- Sex differences
Publications
Professional Service
- Member, WSU President’s Commission on the Status of Women, 2021- present
- Officer, WSU Association for Faculty Women
Honors and Awards
- College of Veterinary Medicine, Dr. Winfred A. Jordan Distinguished Faculty Award, 2024
- National Institutes of Health (NIH) T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2013-2016