Faculty Directory
Shannon L. Gourley, PhD
Associate Professor
Director of Graduate Studies, Neuroscience Program
Departments of Pediatrics and Psychiatry
Programs in Neuroscience and Pharmacology
Emory University School of Medicine
Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta
Emory National Primate Research Center
EMAIL: .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address)
PHONE: 404-727-2482
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Biography
Dr. Gourley completed her doctoral and postdoctoral training at Yale University. Her early independent research at Emory was supported by an Emory Egleston Children's Research Center fellowship, and she was named the Katherine Deschner Family NARSAD Investigator for 2012-14. In 2019, she received the Curt Richter Award from the International Society for Psychoneuroendocrinology. This award has been given for more than 35 years to a distinguished line of young investigators in the field of psychoneuroendocrinology.
Research
Dr. Gourley and her research team focus on issues of depression and addiction. They aim to understand why adolescent-emergent depression is associated with insensitivity to traditional antidepressants and why exposure to drugs of abuse during adolescence is associated with drug abuse and dependence that persist across the lifespan. Dr. Gourley’s team uses behavioral, pharmacological, biochemical, genetic and cellular approaches to develop and optimize novel therapeutic interventions for vulnerable adolescent populations. Conversely, her research team also aims to better understand the neurobiological mechanisms of resilience to stressors and drugs of abuse at any age.