Dr. McHenry is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology & Neuroscience, and Neurobiology at Duke University. She received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Elaine Hull from the Florida State University in 2013, where her NSF-funded thesis research defined hormone-neurotransmitter interactions that mediate the interplay between social experience, anxiety, and stress-responsiveness, with a focus on social “stress-buffering”. In 2018, she completed a NIMH-funded Postdoctoral Training Program at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, under the mentorship of Dr. Garret Stuber and Dr. David Rubinow, where her research established neuroendocrine mechanisms that bridge flexible brain circuits for social reward processing, using modern techniques including optogenetics and chronic deep-brain in vivo 2-photon imaging. Dr. McHenry opened her lab at Duke University in the Fall of 2019, and has established several research programs that use a diverse modern state-of-the-art techniques to broadly explore fundamental principles of social processing among complex social behavioral models. Currently, the lab is focusing on using machine-learning methods to track individual differences and complex social group dynamics in a number of species (e.g., mice, service dogs). In addition, the lab utilizes a range of genetic models of autism in mice, to profile behavioral and neural phenotypes across adolescent development through adulthood. A primary neural focus of the lab is to capture how internal state changes (e.g., hormonal, social state) alter the processing of neural information within the hypothalamus and its connected valence related circuitry, to direct and tune flexible motivated behaviors. As a mentor, Dr. McHenry’s’ goal is to empower scientists at every career stage to identify and grow their unique talents and foster their scientific and professional development along their individual career paths. The lab aims to foster a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive atmosphere and conduct research with the high research integrity that will broadly impact the field.

Hobbies and interests: Yoga, gardening, hiking, and being in nature with wildlife.