Liisa Ann Margaret Galea is a Canadian neuroscientist who is a professor of psychology at the

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

. She is a member of the Centre for Brain Health and Director of the Graduate Programme in Neuroscience. Her research considers the impact of hormones on brain health and behaviour.

Early life and education

Galea is of Estonian and Maltese heritage. Her mother, an accountant, escaped the

Iron Curtain The Iron Curtain was the political boundary dividing Europe into two separate areas from the end of World War II in 1945 until the end of the Cold War in 1991. The term symbolizes the efforts by the Soviet Union (USSR) to block itself and its s ...

during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, first to Sweden and eventually to Canada. Galea grew up in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

. She studied psychology and engineering at

Queen's University at Kingston Queen's University at Kingston, commonly known as Queen's University or simply Queen's, is a public research university in Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Queen's holds more than of land throughout Ontario and owns Herstmonceux Castle in East Suss ...

. She moved to the

University of Western Ontario The University of Western Ontario (UWO), also known as Western University or Western, is a Public university, public research university in London, Ontario, London, Ontario, Canada. The main campus is located on of land, surrounded by resident ...

(UWO) for her doctoral studies, where she investigated developmental and hormonal aspects of spatial learning. She was one of the first graduates of the doctoral degree in neuroscience at UWO. After completing her doctoral research Galea moved to the

Rockefeller University The Rockefeller University is a private biomedical research and graduate-only university in New York City, New York. It focuses primarily on the biological and medical sciences and provides doctoral and postdoctoral education. It is classif ...

as a postdoctoral research associate.

Research and career

Galea's significant body of work has added to our knowledge of how circulating hormones and life events such as pregnancy and aging impact cognition. Galea moved to the

as an Assistant Professor in 1997. She spent five years at UBC before moving to the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

as Associate Professor. Galea was appointed Associate Professor at UBC in 2003, where she was eventually made full Professor and Director of the Graduate Programme in Neuroscience. Her research considers behavioural neuroscience, and the impact of hormones on brain health and function. Different to most neuroscientists, Galea studies the female brain. In particular, Galea is interested in the neural consequences of stress, the impacts of pregnancy and mothering on memory, as well as the development of preclinical models for postpartum depression. She has shown that brain function improves in motherhood, with mothers scoring better in multi-tasking and memory tasks than those who have not given birth. Galea has advocated for the proper consideration of women's health in medical research. She serves as Editor-in-Chief of

Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology ''Frontiers in Neuroendocrinology'' is a quarterly Peer review, peer-reviewed scientific journal covering all aspects of neuroendocrinology. It was established in 1980 and is published by Elsevier. The editor-in-chief is Liisa Galea (University of ...

Awards and honours

* 2009 Kavli Foundation Fellow * 2012

Association for Psychological Science The Association for Psychological Science (APS), previously the American Psychological Society, is an international non-profit organization whose mission is to promote, protect, and advance the interests of scientifically oriented psychology in ...

James McKeen Cattell Fund Sabbatical Fellowship * 2015 Vancouver

YWCA The Young Women's Christian Association (YWCA) is a nonprofit organization with a focus on empowerment, leadership, and rights of women, young women, and girls in more than 100 countries. The World office is currently based in Geneva, Swi ...

Women of Distinction Award * 2015

Dean of Arts Faculty Research Award * 2018 NSERC Discovery Accelerator Supplement * 2019 Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Award

Selected publications

* * *

Personal life

Galea is married and has two children.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galea, Liisa Canadian neuroscientists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Academic staff of the University of British Columbia Canadian people of Estonian descent Canadian people of Maltese descent Queen's University at Kingston alumni University of Western Ontario alumni Canadian women neuroscientists