Research

15+ years of research experience spanning whole-brain imaging, preclinical neuroscience, and quantitative evidence synthesis. My work bridges wet-lab techniques and data-driven analysis, with a consistent focus on translational validity — asking whether what we find in the lab holds up in the real world.

Current Research

Meta-Analysis of Environmental Enrichment & Cognition

SUNY Albany · Adviser: James Stellar, Ph.D. · 2023–present

My doctoral thesis uses meta-analytic methods to investigate whether standard laboratory housing conditions systematically bias cognitive research findings. By comparing environmental enrichment effect sizes in rodents with analogous enrichment interventions in humans, the analysis revealed that rodents show approximately 2.5× larger cognitive enhancement — suggesting that under-resourced housing inflates preclinical effect sizes.

This has direct implications for the pharmaceutical industry: neural drugs acting on the same cognitive pathways as enrichment interventions may be systematically overestimated in preclinical trials, contributing to translational failure.

Methods: Multi-database systematic search, effect size modeling, heterogeneity analysis, publication bias assessment, cross-species comparison (R, metafor package).

Manuscript in preparation.

Past Research

IGF-2 and Alzheimer's Disease

SUNY Albany · McNay Lab · 2016–2023

Investigated early neurophysiological changes in a rat model of Alzheimer's disease. Tested whether intranasal administration of the neurotrophic peptide IGF-2 could prevent expected cognitive decline. Performed 6 weeks of daily intranasal administration protocols and assessed cognition using inhibitory avoidance, contextual fear conditioning, and spontaneous alternation paradigms across ~200 rats.

Also authored a first-author review paper comprehensively synthesizing the evidence for IGF-2 as a therapeutic and preventive agent for Alzheimer's disease.

Related publication: Fitzgerald GS, Chuchta TG, McNay EC. "Insulin-like growth factor-2 is a promising candidate for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease." CNS Neurosci Ther. 2023.

Brain-wide GABAergic Interneuron Mapping & CNTNAP2 Autism Model

Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory · Osten Lab · 2011–2016

Used serial two-photon tomography — a whole-brain imaging technique with single-cell resolution — to characterize the distribution of three types of GABAergic interneurons (PV, SST, VIP) across the entire mouse brain, both within regions and across development. The work revealed stereotyped cell-type-based cortical architecture and subcortical sexual dimorphism, and was published in Cell (IF 64.5).

In parallel, investigated the link between specific mutations, neural circuits, and social behaviors in the CNTNAP2 knockout mouse model of autism. Performed stereotaxic viral injections to selectively drive or suppress putative social brain circuits, and used c-fos mapping to compare brain activation patterns between wild-type and CNTNAP2 KO mice. Assessed the effectiveness of various drugs in enhancing sociability.

Progressed from Assistant Researcher → Laboratory Technician → Lab Manager, overseeing purchase orders, inventory, equipment scheduling, and training of junior staff.

Reward-Based Learning & Conditioned Flavor Preference

CUNY Graduate Center · Bodnar Lab · 2009–2011

Investigated the role of dopamine and opioid neurotransmitter systems in reward-based learning using conditioned flavor preference paradigms in BALB/c and SWR mouse strains. Performed c-fos immunohistochemistry to map brain activation patterns in reward circuitry (prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala, VTA). Contributed to studies examining the effects of systemic dopamine and opioid antagonism.

Publications

Peer-Reviewed (5)

  1. Fitzgerald GS, Chuchta TG, McNay EC. (2023) "Insulin-like growth factor-2 is a promising candidate for the treatment and prevention of Alzheimer's disease." CNS Neuroscience & Therapeutics. doi:10.1111/cns.14160 [First author; review]
  2. Ralbovsky NM, Fitzgerald GS, McNay EC, Lednev IK. (2021) "Towards development of a novel screening method for identifying Alzheimer's disease risk: Raman spectroscopy of blood serum and machine learning." Spectrochimica Acta Part A: Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy. 254:119603.
  3. Kim Y, Yang GR, Pradhan K, Venkataraju KU, Bolta M, Garcia del Molino LC, Fitzgerald G, Ram K, He M, Levine JM, Mitra P, Huang JZ, Wang XJ, Osten P. (2017) "Brain-wide Maps Reveal Stereotyped Cell-Type-Based Cortical Architecture and Subcortical Sexual Dimorphism." Cell. 171(2):456-469. [IF 64.5]
  4. Kraft TT, Yakubov Y, Huang D, Fitzgerald G, Natanova E, Sclafani A, Bodnar RJ. (2015) "Dopamine D1 and opioid receptor antagonists differentially reduce the acquisition and expression of fructose-conditioned flavor preferences in BALB/c and SWR mice." Physiology & Behavior. 151:213-220.
  5. Kraft TT, Yakubov Y, Huang D, Fitzgerald G, Acosta V, Natanova E, Touzani K, Sclafani A, Bodnar RJ. (2013) "Dopamine D1 and opioid receptor antagonism effects on the acquisition and expression of fat-conditioned flavor preferences in BALB/c and SWR inbred mice." Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior. 110:127-136.

In Preparation

Conference Presentations

First Author / Presenter

  1. Fitzgerald GS, Mallon LP. "Molecular effectors of insulin's role in hippocampal memory processing across stages of memory." Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting, 2018. [Program#: 084.02]
  2. Fitzgerald G, Kim Y, Osten P. "CNTNAP2 KO mice exhibit reduced sociability in three-chamber test." NEURON/Hunter Psych Conference, April 2012.
  3. Fitzgerald G, Kim Y, Osten P. "CNTNAP2 KO mice exhibit reduced sociability in three-chamber test." URME Research Symposium, March 2012.
  4. Fitzgerald G, Kim Y, Osten P. "CNTNAP2 KO mice exhibit reduced sociability in three-chamber test." Sigma Xi Research Symposium, March 2012.

Contributing Author (Selected)

Research Interests

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