Shawn Bates, PhD

Shawn Bates is a current Fellow in the 2018–2020 class of SfN’s Neuroscience Scholars Program. Bates received his PhD in neuroscience from Texas A&M University in 2017. His interests include higher learning and research that is focused on how environmental factors, like stress, can contribute to addiction. He is currently involved in a project exploring sex differences in how stress alters locus coeruleus (LC) function, and how this can lead to cognitive deficits. His long-term research goals involve exploring the long-lasting effects of psychoactive drugs in adolescence, including recreational substances like opioids and psychostimulants, but also those with more clinical relevance, such as ketamine and ADHD drugs like methylphenidate. He is highly motivated to pursue a career that involves teaching and training students to perform research in the areas of psychopharmacology, stress, and drug addiction.