Dr. Michelle Bedenbaugh joined the University of Florida’s Department of Neuroscience in November 2024, bringing with her a research vision grounded in curiosity, collaboration, and a deep appreciation for the complexity of the brain. Her path into neuroscience began with a love for animals and a desire to become a veterinarian, until hands-on experience in that field redirected her curiosity. What started as undergraduate research looking at sheep brains gradually led her to neural circuits, and eventually to the intersection of feeding and stress, a focus that defines her work today.
Now a new member of the Florida Chemical Senses Institute, Dr. Bedenbaugh is excited about the possibilities for interdisciplinary collaboration. “You always end up where you’re supposed to be,” she said, reflecting on the winding path that led her from large animal research to sophisticated neural circuit work in rodents, and ultimately to UF. She was drawn to the university for its collegial environment and breadth of expertise in both reproduction and feeding, making it, in her words, “a very good fit.”
Dr. Bedenbaugh’s academic trajectory includes an undergraduate and master’s degree from Texas A&M, a Ph.D. from West Virginia University, and a postdoctoral fellowship at Vanderbilt. Her early training in large animal models shaped not just her scientific approach but her values as a researcher. Through those experiences Dr. Bedenbaugh learned that, “you need a strong team, you can’t do it on your own,” she said. This emphasis on collaboration continues to inform her lab’s culture.
Dr. Bedenbaugh has leveraged these experiences to move into genetically-tractable animal models which position her uniquely to resolve brain function through a distinctive lens: one that’s well-rounded and uniquely suited for investigating complex behavioral neuroscience questions.
Dr. Bedenbaugh’s lab focuses on understanding the neural circuits that drive feeding, stress, and other motivated behaviors, an interest that emerged during her postdoc while studying the melanocortin 3 receptor (MC3R). Using innovative techniques like tissue clearing and light-sheet imaging, she discovered that this receptor was not only involved in energy homeostasis but also prominently expressed in brain regions associated with fear and anxiety.
“The brain drives everything,” she noted. “So really understanding the neural circuits at the intersection of feeding and stress… I hope it will lead to better therapeutic targets and understanding how these circuits work.”
One question she is particularly excited to investigate is how early life experiences, like maternal diet or early life stress, shape brain development and behavior. Her lab will explore these questions through neuroanatomical, physiological, and behavioral lenses, especially focusing on developmental periods that are critical to brain plasticity.
While not originally trained in sensory science, Dr. Bedenbaugh’s work has organically intersected with the chemical senses. “Smell is critically important,” she explained, both in feeding behaviors and stress responses. In one postdoctoral study, she and her team found sex differences in sniffing behavior under different metabolic states, hinting at an intriguing relationship between olfaction and motivated behaviors.
Taste may also play a larger role than previously thought, especially in hedonic feeding. Though her lab hasn’t yet explored gustatory circuits in depth, she sees exciting potential in uncovering how taste-related brain areas interact with the melanocortin system.
Dr. Bedenbaugh joined the Florida Chemical Senses Institute in June 2025, drawn by its interdisciplinary nature and community-oriented ethos. “You need an interdisciplinary approach to really answer these complex questions,” she said. Already, collaborations are forming. Colleagues like Dan Wesson and Nancy Padilla-Coreano have shared insights and encouragement, from techniques and equipment to professional societies worth exploring.
Though no formal projects within the institute are underway yet, she anticipates several in the coming years: “I can imagine in the next year or two that several collaborations will form, and I’m really looking forward to that.”
Over the next few years, Dr. Bedenbaugh’s lab will expand its focus beyond the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (BST), a brain region she’s already studied extensively. With new research using whole-brain activity mapping, her team aims to identify additional areas involved in feeding and stress, and examine how early life events affect these circuits.
Milestones for the lab include publishing meaningful work, securing foundational grants, and hopefully earning an NIH R01, an ambitious yet vital goal for any early-career principal investigator.
For those unfamiliar with neuroscience, Dr. Bedenbaugh summarizes her research purpose simply: “To better understand the neural circuitry that plays a role in diseases at the intersection of feeding and stress. If we can better understand those circuits, hopefully we can find targets that can lessen the severity of these diseases.”
To students entering the field, her advice is grounded in personal experience: “Follow your curiosity and don’t be afraid when your path changes. You might think you’re going one way, and the data will take you another.” Just as importantly, she emphasizes resilience: “Failure is the name of the game in this career. Take it on the chin and keep going—there’s something rewarding on the other end.”
As Dr. Bedenbaugh’s lab grows and her collaborations within the FCSI evolve, her work stands as a testament to the power of curiosity, adaptability, and interdisciplinary science.