Zita Kolano

MSc Student

Zita is an MSc Epidemiology and Applied Health Research student at the University of Ottawa.  Her research project aims to examine the prevalence of adolescent exposure to weight loss product marketing in digital media.  Her previous research experience investigated whether the hormone ghrelin modulates the impact of early life stress on the development of hypothalamic feeding circuitry in neonatal mice.  She also contributed to a variety of other basic animal research projects that explored sex differences in hypothalamic growth hormone secretagogue receptor (GHSR) expression, the effects of indiscriminate chronic social defeat stress on male and female GHSR knock-out and wild-type mice, and the influence of ghrelin on maternal motivation.  Zita has worked and studied in a variety of fields including neuroscience, psychology, finance, high-tech, and hospitality.  She looks forward to integrating her diverse skills into the interdisciplinary research that she will conduct in the OULIVE lab.  Outside of the lab, Zita enjoys homesteading, fitness, and reading.