Lab Members

Dr. Stephen Sammut received a B.Pharm from Monash University in Victoria, Australia and a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Malta in Malta, Europe. His research interests lie in the utilization of behavioral models and combined experimental techniques to investigate the interaction between the endocrine, immune and nervous systems and their role in CNS development, functioning and psychopathology. His scientific career experience has been broad and has included experience in a number of animal models of psychiatric disorders including depression, schizophrenia, Parkinson’s disease and psychostimulant-induced drug sensitization. Moreover, he has utilized various in vivo and in vitro techniques including electrophysiology, electrochemistry, reverse-microdialysis, individually or in combination with each other, in order to investigate questions related to behavior, cellular activity, neurotransmitter release, and how these are altered in psychiatric diseases in brain regions of interest. He has authored and co-authored several papers in leading scientific journals related to the research he has conducted and also presented his work at various conferences and institutions nationally and internationally. His scientific career has also given him the unique experience of having a leading role in the original setting up of laboratories and equipment and management. Dr. Sammut is currently a Full Professor of Psychology at Franciscan University of Steubenville, OH, where he teaches and is also actively involved in research. His research efforts currently are focused on three primary areas: 1) research geared at investigating the neurological, biological and behavioral consequences of drug-induced abortion in an animal model, 2) research seeking to establish a pre-clinical model addressing the abortion-pill-reversal, and 3) research addressing the development of an animal model for embryo transfer in ectopic pregnancy. Additionally, and in line with his research interest in psychopathology, Dr. Sammut also conducts research addressing mental health and related behaviors in the university student population.

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Christina Camilleri is currently a research assistant in Dr. Stephen Sammut’s laboratory at Franciscan University of Steubenville. Christina received her B.S. Degree in Biology from Franciscan University in May 2017. She has been actively involved in Dr. Sammut’s research since joining the lab, initially as a student, in 2015 and is involved in all four areas of his research. Additionally, Christina also serves as a teaching assistant for Dr. Sammut’s Statistics and Experimental Psychology courses where she is involved in mentoring and guiding undergraduate students. Her greatest passion is in the area of behavioral neuroscience, specifically utilizing animal models and various techniques. She devotes the greatest amount of time to the Abortion and the Ectopic Pregnancy studies. Christina has presented this research at several conferences and is currently involved in preparing some of this work for publication.

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