About the Lab
Our laboratory is focused on the cellular mechanisms and neural circuits regulating vulnerability to social stress.  We investigate social stress using a social defeat model in Syrian hamsters called conditioned defeat. We use a variety of approaches to investigate the stress vulnerability including chemogenetics, neural tract tracing, intracranial microinjections,  immunohistochemistry, Golgi-Cox staining, hormone assays, and behavioral testing.  We are particularly interested in coping strategies and the neurobiological mechanisms controlling stress resilience. Our goal is to identify the mechanisms by which social experience builds stress resilience and thereby uncover novel approaches for preventing and treating stress-related mental illness.
Joining the Lab
We are recruiting PhD students for Fall 2022!! Please contact Dr. Cooper (mcooper@utk.edu) for more information about the lab and our graduate program.
We have a wait list for undergraduate research assistants. If you are interested in joining the lab, please complete the lab application here or contact Dr. Cooper directly.
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Awards and Shout Outs
Congratulations to the Cooper Lab's latest award winners!!
  • 2021
    • Jessica Kearney, NeuroNET Retreat, best student poster presentation 
    • Conner Whitten, Psychology Department Diversity Advocacy Award
    • Conner Whitten wins a prestigious Ford Foundation Fellowship! 
    • MacKenzie Hooker receives 2 EUReCA poster awards: ORE Award of Excellence and the Bronze Award  
  • 2020
    • Roland Rodriguez, NeuroNET retreat, most creative data blitz presentation award 
    • Sydney Wyatt, NeuroNET retreat, best data blitz presentation 
    • Sydney Wyatt receives UT Office of Undergraduate Research summer internship
    • Thomas Clarity, EUReCA poster award, ORE  Silver Award
    • Sydney Wyatt & Matthew Jenkins, EUReCA poster award, ORE Bronze Award
    • Neha Sagarad, EUReCA poster award, ORE Award of Excellence
  • 2019
    • Thomas Clarity receives SfN Faculty for Undergraduate Neuroscience Travel Award.
    • Neha Sagarad receives UT Office of Research summer internship.
    • Emily Graham, EUReCA poster award, ORE Award of Excellence
    • Thomas Clarity, EUReCA poster award, ORE Award of Excellence and Silver Award
    • Alex Grizzell, Brain Awareness Campaign awarded Innovative Program of the Year, UTK Division of Student Life
    • Alex Grizzell and Thomas Clarity win Best Poster Awards at the Psychology Department Banquet
  • ​2018
    • Alex Grizzell received the Outstanding Graduate Student Teacher Award from the Department of Psychology
    • Matthew Cooper Undergraduate Research Mentor of the Year Award, UTK Office of the Chancellor.
    • Annie Loewen, 1st Place Undergraduate Poster Award, UTK Women in STEM Symposium
    • Elena Bagatelas, 2nd Place Undergraduate Oral Award, UTK Women in STEM Symposium
    • Kimberly Bress, 1st Place Undergraduate Oral Award, UTK Women in STEM Symposium
  • 2017
    • Kimberly Bress was named a Barry Goldwater Scholar.