Sze Ying

Investigating the neuroendocrine control of feeding behaviour

Contact type
Person
First name
Sze
Surname
Ying
Role
Postdoctoral Fellow - Ludwig Group
Organisation 1
Hugh Robson Building
Organisation 2
15 George Square
Organisation 3
Edinburgh EH8 9XD
Email
ysze@exseed.ed.ac.uk

Personal Profile

Research

I am interested in how hormones affect diverse physiological processes and behavioural outcomes throughout the life course.

I am currently investigating the role of oxytocin in regulating appetite and obesity, working within a multidisciplinary team as part of the Leng and Ludwig research groups. I focus on the in vivo aspects of the project, employing chemogenetic techniques coupled with behavioural and biochemical assays in the rat model.

I completed my PhD training with Dr Paula Brunton, where I investigated the role of steroids in mediating the outcomes of stress during pregnancy. I also developed and validated a liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry method to measure neurosteroids, shedding light on the complex interaction between steroids, stress, and biological sex.

Publications

  • Sze Y, Brunton PJ. Effects of prenatal stress on neuroactive steroid responses to acute stress in adult male and female rats (2021) J Neuroendocrinol.
  • Scott H, Phillips TJ, Sze Y, Alfieri A, Rogers MF, Volpato V, Case CP, Brunton PJ (2020) Maternal antioxidant treatment prevents the adverse effects of prenatal stress on the offspring’s brain and behavior. Neurobiol Stress
  • Sze Y, Brunton PJ (2019) Sex, Stress and Steroids. Eur J Neurosci.
  • Sze Y, Gill AC, Brunton PJ (2018) Sex-dependent changes in neuroactive steroid concentrations in the rat brain following acute swim stress. J Neuroendocrinol.