Kayla Maanum
Current Program Year: Grad 4
Current Student, Behavioral Neuroscience Graduate Program, School of Medicine
M.D./Ph.D. Program Students, School of Medicine
Biography
Kayla received her B.A. in Integrative Biology from the University of California, Berkeley. She recently joined the lab of Tianyi Mao, where she plans to investigate behaviorally relevant neural circuits in the mouse insular cortex using ex vivo slice electrophysiology and in vivo cellular imaging. Her clinical interests include neurology and critical care. In her leisure time, Kayla loves scoping out the best latte in Portland and exploring the beautiful PNW.
Education and training
B.A., 2019, University of California, Berkeley
Fellowship:
Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship, SURF Program, University of California, Berkeley, 2018
Ruth L. Kirschstein Individual Predoctoral National Research Service Award (F31 NS143300)
National Institute of Health, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, 2026
Honors and awards
P.E.O. Oregon Scholarship
Oregon Chapter, Philanthropic Educational Organization (P.E.O.) Sisterhood, 2026
Ashworth-Thomason Graduate Training Award
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health and Science University, 2024
Professional Development Scholarship
Women in Science Portland, 2024
N. L. Tartar Trust Fellowship – Oregon Health and Science University
Proposal Title: Central neural circuitry underlying visceral sensory integration in the mouse, 2024
Early Career Award - Frontal Cortex Gordon Research Conference
Oregon Health and Science University ARCS Foundation Scholarship, 2023
Marian Diamond Award for Research and Teaching, Department of Integrative Biology, University of California, Berkeley, 2019
Publications
Selected publications
Jongbloets BC*, Chen Y*, Muniak MA, Gingerich IK, Maanum KA, Mao T. (2026). Pyramidal cell types and circuit organization of the mouse insular cortex reveal functional specializations. Nature Neuroscience, in press
*authors contributed equally
El-Quessny M, Maanum K, and Feller MB. (2020). Visual experience instructs dendrite orientation but is not required for asymmetric wiring of the retinal direction selective circuit, Cell Reports, 31(13): 107844.
Waung MW, Maanum KA, Cirino TJ, Driscoll JR, O'Brien C, Bryant S, Mansourian K, Morales M, Barker DJ and Margolis EB. (2022). A diencephalic circuit in rats for opioid analgesia but not positive reinforcement, Nature Communications, 13(764).