Dr. Staszko is a Postdoctoral Fellow in the lab of Dr. Alfred Kaye in the department of Psychiatry. Her research uses a combination of optogenetics, in-vivo imaging, and novel behavioral paradigms to study the interactions between arousal states, sensory coding, and behavioral responses to environmental stimuli. Dr. Staszko received her PhD from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center where she worked with Drs. Max Fletcher and John Boughter studying the role of experience on cortical taste coding in the gustatory (insular) cortex. Her long term goal is to develop an independent research program combining her unique expertise in leveraging cutting-edge systems neuroscience techniques to study sensory coding and plasticity in ethologically-relevant behavioral paradigms.
Last Updated on February 15, 2026.
Education & Training
PhD
University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Integrated Biomedical Sciences - Neuroscience (2021)
BA
University of Mississippi, Biology and Psychology (2014)
Staszko SM, Boughter JD. Taste Pathways, Representation and Processing in the Brain. The Senses: A Comprehensive Reference 2020 DOI: 10.1016/B978-0-12-809324-5.23891-1.
Sufka KJ, Staszko SM, Johnson AP, Davis ME, Davis RE, Smitherman TA. Clinically relevant behavioral endpoints in a recurrent nitroglycerin migraine model in rats. J Headache Pain 2016, 17: 40. PMID: 27093871, DOI: 10.1186/s10194-016-0624-y.
Peer-Reviewed Original Research
Academic Achievements & Community Involvement
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Honors
honor
K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award
09/15/2025National AwardNIH National Eye Institute
honor
Yale Kavli Institute for Neuroscience Postdoctoral Award for Collaborative Excellence
07/01/2025Yale University AwardKavli Institute for Neuroscience at Yale University
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Biological Sciences Training Program T32
07/01/2023Yale University AwardNIH National Instutes of Mental Health
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Most Outstanding Graduate Student Award
05/01/2021Other AwardUniversity of Tennessee Health Science Center