Kiran K. Soma
Research Area
Education
PhD, University of Washington, 2000
About
Dr. Kiran Soma is a Professor in the Department of Psychology and a Member of the Djavad Mowafaghian Centre for Brain Health at the University of British Columbia. He studies how hormones affect neural circuits, behaviour, and immune function.
Teaching
Research
Research interests include behavioural neuroscience, neuroendocrinology, neuroethology, diet, exercise, stress.
Publications
Seib DR, Jung MM & Soma KK (2025) Maternal sucrose consumption alters steroid levels in the mother, placenta and fetus. Journal of Endocrinology 265: e240238 (17 pp).
Niepoth N, Merritt JR, Uminski M, Lei E, Esquibies VS, Bando IB, Hernandez K, Gebhardt C, Wacker SA, Lutzu S, Poudel A, Soma KK, Rudolph S & Bendesky A (2024) Evolution of a novel adrenal cell type that promotes parental care. Nature 629: 1082-1090.
Jalabert C, Gray SL & Soma KK (2024) An aggressive interaction rapidly increases brain androgens in a male songbird during the non-breeding season. Journal of Neuroscience 44: e1095232024 (14 pp).
Seib DR, Tobiansky DJ, Meitzen J, Floresco SB & Soma KK (2023) Neurosteroids and the mesocorticolimbic system. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews 153: 105356 (9 pp).
Salehzadeh M & Soma KK (2021) Glucocorticoid production in the thymus and brain: immunosteroids and neurosteroids. Brain, Behavior and Immunity – Health 18:100352.
See Google Scholar for papers and citations.
Awards
- Killam Award for Excellence in Mentoring (2020)
- Association for Psychological Science James McKeen Cattell Fund Sabbatical Fellowship (2017)
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) Fellow (2015)
- Killam Faculty Research Prize (2012)
- Killam Faculty Research Fellowship (2010)
