Ariella Zulch

Ariella is a Ph.D. student in Neuroscience & Behavior at UC Santa Barbara, where she works with Drs. Michael Goard and Andy Alexander. Her research focuses on how reproductive endocrine transitions shape the brain, with a particular interest in pregnancy, the postpartum period, and hormonal contraception. Using longitudinal in vivo imaging in mice, she studies how hippocampal neurons and synapses remodel across these transitions and the hormonal mechanisms that drive these changes. More broadly, Ariella aims to bridge cellular and systems neuroscience with human research to better understand women’s brain health across the reproductive lifespan.