Associate Professor Robyn M. Brown is a DECRA Fellow and laboratory head of the Behavioural Neuropharmacology Laboratory in the Department of Biochemistry and Pharmacology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She leads an all-female research team investigating the neural mechanisms underlying pathological motivated behaviours, including compulsive overeating and addiction-like responses to high-fat high-sugar foods in the context of obesity. Brown completed her PhD at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Monash University, and holds a Bachelor of Commerce/Science (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. In 2011, she was awarded the Sir Keith Murdoch Postdoctoral Fellowship by the American Australian Association to train in the laboratory of Dr. Peter Kalivas at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in the United States, contributing to high-impact studies on neuroplasticity in drug addiction. She subsequently held an NHMRC-ARC Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health.

Brown's research employs animal models to uncover brain reward system dysregulation driving overeating, with implications for obesity treatments amid Australia's annual $11 billion economic burden from the condition. Key publications include “Addiction-like Synaptic Impairments in Diet-Induced Obesity” (Biological Psychiatry, 2017), which demonstrated synaptic changes akin to addiction in obese rodents; “A model of emotional stress-induced binge eating in female mice with no history of food restriction” (Genes, Brain and Behavior, 2020); and work on metabolic sensing in AgRP neurons integrating feeding states with motivated behaviours (eLife, 2022). Her contributions have earned the AW Campbell Award for top Australasian neuroscientist less than five years post-PhD, shortlisting for the L’Oréal-UNESCO For Women in Science Award, Japanese Neuroscience Society Young Investigator Award, International Society for Neurochemistry Young Investigator Colloquia Award, and the 2021 veski inspiring women career recovery grant. Featured in NHMRC's “10 of the Best” for studies on N-acetylcysteine reducing addiction-like behaviours towards junk food, Brown's influence extends to advocacy, including nine years on the Florey Institute's Equality in Science committee and Women in Science Parkville Precinct initiatives.

Professional Email: robyn.brown@unimelb.edu.au