Amanda Leithead
Graduate Student
Amanda is a PhD candidate in Neuroscience who joined the lab of Dr. Hala Harony-Nicolas in
2018. Amanda’s research focuses on the role of glutamatergic inputs to oxytocin neurons in the
hypothalamus of the brain in social behaviors, as well as the effect of Shank3-mutation on these
circuits and behaviors in mice. Prior to joining the graduate program at Mount Sinai, Amanda
earned her BS/MS in Experimental Psychology at Saint Joseph’s University in 2018. For her MS
thesis, Amanda studied the effects of paternal care on offspring parental behavior and
neuroendocrinology in California mice in the lab of Dr. Elizabeth Becker.
2018. Amanda’s research focuses on the role of glutamatergic inputs to oxytocin neurons in the
hypothalamus of the brain in social behaviors, as well as the effect of Shank3-mutation on these
circuits and behaviors in mice. Prior to joining the graduate program at Mount Sinai, Amanda
earned her BS/MS in Experimental Psychology at Saint Joseph’s University in 2018. For her MS
thesis, Amanda studied the effects of paternal care on offspring parental behavior and
neuroendocrinology in California mice in the lab of Dr. Elizabeth Becker.
Amanda can be reached at amanda.leithead@icahn.mssm.edu