Social neuroscience
of pain, affect, and
psychopathology
research
The Smith Lab focuses on the mechanistic understanding of the neurobiological relationships between social behavior, pain, and emotion, while identifying the neural circuitry that is disrupted in disease models related to empathy, addiction, and depression.
Meet Dr.
Monique Smith
Dr. Smith is an Assistant Professor at the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in the departments of Neurobiology and Neurosciences. She received both her B.A. and M.A in Psychology from California State University San Marcos and her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from Oregon Health & Science University. She conducted her postdoctoral training at Stanford University with Dr. Robert Malenka.
Lab news
Lab, Research
Congrats Jie!
July 21, 2026 | We’re excited to share that our graduate student, Jie Zhang, has been awarded the Kavli–Helsinki PhD Endowed Fellowship. This well-deserved honor reflects Jie’s hard work, dedication, and passion for research. Congratulations, Jie!
Lab, Research
Congrats Thomas!
July 21, 2026 | We’re thrilled to share that our postdoctoral scholar, Thomas Pomberger, has been awarded the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS) Mentored Research Award. We are incredibly proud to celebrate Thomas on receiving this award. This well-deserved recognition reflects his dedication and outstanding research, and we can’t wait to see the discoveries that … Read more
Lab, Research
Congrats Nikki Keisler!
May 1, 2025 | We’re thrilled to share that one of your amazing graduate students, Nikki Keisler, has been awarded a prestigious fellowship for her research on the neural basis of empathy. Nikki’s project, “Anterior Cingulate Encoding of State-Matching and Allogrooming in Mice,” investigates how the brain supports two forms of empathic behavior, state-matching and … Read more
