Principal Investigator
Assistant Professor
Department of Neuroscience
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
Yanaira Alonso Caraballo, PhD
Yanaira “Yanay” Alonso-Caraballo is an Assistant Professor of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities. She was born and raised in Puerto Rico, where she attended the University of Puerto Rico in Ponce to complete her bachelor’s degree in biomedical sciences. She received her PhD in neuroscience from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor and later trained as a postdoctoral researcher at McLean Hospital and the University of Minnesota.
Education and Training
University of Minnesota, Twin Cities
2022-2025
Postdoctoral Scholar
Mark Thomas & Paul Mermelstein Labs
Harvard Medical School|McLean Hospital
2020-2022
Postdoctoral Scholar
Elena Chartoff & Vadim Bolshakov Labs
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
2014-2020
PhD in Neuroscience
Carrie Ferrario Lab
University of Puerto Rico, Ponce
2009-2013
BS in Biomedical Sciences
Department of Biology
UPRP-RISE Undergraduate Student
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
2013-2014
Postbaccalaureate Research Experience Program
Jill Becker Lab
Grants & Funding
NIH HEAL Initiative K99/R00 NIDA
2025-Present
Postdoctoral-Faculty Transition Grant
K99 Phase: Mark Thomas Lab (University of Minnesota)
Title: Mapping the Functional and Anatomical Pathways from the Anterior and Posterior Paraventricular Nucleus of the Thalamus to the Nucleus Accumbens: Implications for Opioid Use.
UMN President’s Postdoctoral Fellowship
2022-2024
Postdoctoral Fellowship - Mark Thomas Lab
NIH DSPAN F99/K00 NIDA
2018-2024
Brain Initiative Diversity Specialized Predoctoral to Postdoctoral Advancement in Neuroscience Award
F99 Phase: Carrie Ferrario’s Lab (University of Michigan)
Title: Motivation in females; interactions between gonadal hormones and striatal glutamatergic plasticity.
K00 Phase: Elena Chartoff and Vadim Bolshakov Lab (McLean Hospital)
K00 Phase: Mark Thomas Lab (University of Minnesota)
Title:Role of the estrous cycle and nucleus accumbens signaling on incubation of oxycodone craving in female rats.