Dr. Chia-Yu (Cathy) Huang is an Associate Professor in the Department of Life Sciences at National Central University (NCU), Taiwan. She earned her Ph.D. from Texas A&M University, USA, and completed postdoctoral training at the Texas A&M Health Science Center and Harvard Medical School/McLean Hospital in the USA. After returning to her beloved hometown of Taiwan, she was appointed as an Assistant Professor in 2018 and was promoted to tenured Associate Professor in 2023. Dr. Huang has been dedicated to teaching both undergraduate and graduate courses and has consistently secured government research and teaching grants from the National Science and Technology Council and the Ministry of Education, as well as hospital research grants. She has served as an ad hoc reviewer for numerous international journals. Additionally, she is the Executive Secretary of the Institutional Animal Care & Use Committee (IACUC) and an English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) seeded professor at NCU. Her dedication to teaching, research, and service was recognized by her alma mater, Texas A&M University, where she received the 2023 Rising Star Award.

Our laboratory focuses on neuroscience and neuropsychiatry, with two primary areas of interest: (1) the effects of environmental toxicants (such as microplastics) on brain function and behavior and (2) the neural mechanisms underlying social threat learning and memory. We employ a multidisciplinary approach, integrating bioinformatics, molecular, biochemical, and histological techniques, as well as behavioral studies, to investigate how environmental pollutants impact the brain and the neural circuitry of social threat learning. 

In 2022, our team published a paper demonstrating that microplastic exposure impairs learning and memory in animals through a vagus nerve-dependent pathway. This paper has been cited more than 100 times within two years and has garnered media attention from British media outlet The Guardian and Taiwanese media channels TTV and TVBS, highlighting the critical issues of brain health and environmental pollution. 

In addition, we are particularly interested in sex difference in social threat learning and memory. Social threat learning and memory is involved in social and cognitive process by which individuals acquire, store, and retrieve information about threats through social interactions. This type of learning is evolutionarily conserved and allows individuals to recognize and respond appropriately to dangers within society. Dysfunctional social threat learning is associated with mental illnesses, including anxiety disorders, depression and autism spectrum disorder. To explore the neural circuit mechanisms underlying sex differences in social threat learning and memory, we employ a multidisciplinary approach, integrating chemogenetics, optogenetics, machine learning, bioinformatics, molecular, biochemical, and histological techniques, along with behavioral studies.