Nadia Chaudhri

Nadia Chaudhri was born on January 25, 1978, in Karachi, to Abdul Shakoor and Susan Mary Chaudhri.{{Cite news|last=Williams|first=Annabelle|date=2021-10-20|title=Nadia Chaudhri, Scientist With an End-of-Life Mission, Dies at 43|language=en-US|work=The New York Times|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/health/nadia-chaudhri-dead.html|access-date=2021-10-20|issn=0362-4331|archive-date=October 20, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211020182218/https://www.nytimes.com/2021/10/20/health/nadia-chaudhri-dead.html|url-status=live}} She was raised in Karachi. Since her mother was raised in England, she grew up around Western influence and her father who allowed her to pursue higher education overseas.{{cite news |last1=Roggie |first1=Alyssa |title=From Pakistan to F&M, she's making her mark |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75673076/from-pakistan-to-fm-shes-making-her/ |access-date=April 13, 2021 |publisher=Intelligencer Journal |date=May 10, 1999 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004110/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75673076/from-pakistan-to-fm-shes-making-her/ |url-status=live }} She moved to the United States at the age of 17{{cite tweet|user=DrNadiaChaudhri|number=1381934074500161540|date=April 13, 2021|title=When I was seventeen I left #Karachi for college in the USA. Only 2 suitcases allowed but all my mixed tapes came with me. Yesterday I got an incredibly thoughtful gift from @milaniuum & @pisanty_ivan. A player to listen to my tapes & covert to mp3s}} and attended Franklin & Marshall College for her bachelor's degree in biological foundations of behavior with a concentration in neuroscience studies. She graduated in 1999 with a 3.9 grade point average and the Williamson Medal as F&M's top senior.{{cite news |last1=O'Connor |first1=David |title=Science major adds Williamson Medal to long list of honors |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75673056/science-major-adds-williamson-medal-to/ |access-date=April 13, 2021 |publisher=Lancaster New Era |date=May 10, 1999 |via=newspapers.com |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004112/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/75673056/science-major-adds-williamson-medal-to/ |url-status=live }} Chaudhri then received a Howard Hughes Medical Institute fellowship to complete her doctoral degree at the University of Pittsburgh.{{cite web |title=HHMI Awards Predoctoral, Medical Student Fellowships |url=https://www.hhmi.org/news/hhmi-awards-predoctoral-medical-student-fellowships-0 |website=hhmi.org |access-date=April 13, 2021 |date=June 9, 2000 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004121/https://www.hhmi.org/news/hhmi-awards-predoctoral-medical-student-fellowships-0 |url-status=live }} Her thesis was titled "Complex interactions between nicotine and nonpharmacological stimuli reveal a novel role for nicotine in reinforcement".{{cite web |title=CNUP ALUMNI |url=http://www.ieee-iri.org/cnup.neurobio_subdomain/people/alumni.html |website=ieee-iri.org |access-date=April 15, 2021 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004116/http://www.ieee-iri.org/cnup.neurobio_subdomain/people/alumni.html |url-status=live }}

Chaudhri completed her post-doctoral training at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center at the University of California, San Francisco. In this role, she found that the physical surroundings where alcohol cues are experienced can greatly influence the ability of those cues to trigger a relapse.{{cite web |title=Right Place + Right Time Can Trigger Drinking |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080729075111.htm |website=sciencedaily.com |publisher=Science Daily |access-date=April 15, 2021 |date=July 31, 2008 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004110/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/07/080729075111.htm |url-status=live }} Chaudhri eventually joined the Center for Studies in Behavioral Neurobiology (CSBN) and the Department of Psychology at Concordia University in January 2010 as an assistant professor and was promoted to associate professor with tenure in June 2014.{{cite web |title=Nadia Chaudhri, PhD |url=https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/psychology/faculty.html?fpid=nadia-chaudhri |website=concordia.ca |access-date=April 15, 2021 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004118/https://www.concordia.ca/artsci/psychology/faculty.html?fpid=nadia-chaudhri |url-status=live }} On September 9, 2021, she was promoted to Full Professor{{Cite web|date=2021-12-17|title=Nadia Chaudhri (1978 – 2021): 'She was a force of nature'|url=https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/offices/advancement/2021/10/06/she-was-a-force-of-nature-nadia-chaudhri-1978-2021-passes-away.html}}

At Concordia, Chaudhri’s research program has been funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council, the Canadian Foundation for Innovation, ABMRF/The Foundation for Alcohol Research, Fonds de recherche Santé Québec and Concordia University. Her research team, composed of undergraduates, graduate students and postdoctoral fellows, studied the effect that environmental cues have on drug use, misuse and relapse. Specifically, they studied the psychological processes that underpin how people associate stimuli in the environment with the psychopharmacological effects of drugs. In addition, they used a suite of advanced neuroscientific techniques to understand the brain systems and processes that underpin these associations. The ultimate goal of this research is to help people who have substance use disorders overcome the powerful effects that drug-predictive cues can have on drug-seeking behaviour and relapse.{{cite web |title=Our First JOVE Contest Winner! |url=https://www.med-associates.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-2014_Medlines_Web.pdf |website=med-associates.com |access-date=April 15, 2021 |page=2 |date=Winter 2014 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004117/https://www.med-associates.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/09/01-2014_Medlines_Web.pdf |url-status=live }}

During her tenure at Concordia, Chaudhri and her laboratory associates studied the effect environmental cues can have on drug use. In her first year as an associate professor, Chaudhri won the inaugural Journal of Visualized Experiments JoVE video abstract contest after she showed Pavlovian-conditioned alcohol-seeking is mediated by dopamine.{{cite web |title=What can Pavlov's dogs tell us about drinking? |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-05/cu-wcp052516.php |website=eurekalert.org |publisher=Eurekalert |access-date=April 15, 2021 |date=May 25, 2016 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004113/https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2016-05/cu-wcp052516.php |url-status=live }} Later, Chaudhri and colleague Andrew Chapman published Optogenetic Activation of the Infralimbic Cortex Suppresses the Return of Appetitive Pavlovian-Conditioned Responding Following Extinction, which demonstrated how stimulation of the brain’s infralimbic cortex could inhibit responses to environmental cues that predict sugar.{{cite journal |title=Optogenetic Activation of the Infralimbic Cortex Suppresses the Return of Appetitive Pavlovian-Conditioned Responding Following Extinction |journal=Cerebral Cortex |date=December 2018 |volume=28 |issue=12 |pages=4210–4221 |doi=10.1093/cercor/bhx275 |pmid=29045570 |url=https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/28/12/4210/4555262?guestAccessKey=7c52d8fd-6d92-462c-856b-bf7e2f885ffd |access-date=April 15, 2021 |last1=Villaruel |first1=F. R. |last2=Lacroix |first2=F. |last3=Sanio |first3=C. |last4=Sparks |first4=D. W. |last5=Chapman |first5=C. A. |last6=Chaudhri |first6=N. |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004112/https://academic.oup.com/cercor/article/28/12/4210/4555262?guestAccessKey=7c52d8fd-6d92-462c-856b-bf7e2f885ffd |url-status=live }}{{cite web |last1=Dunk |first1=Renee |title=Researchers discover ability to improve resistance to temptation |url=https://www.concordia.ca/news/stories/2018/02/13/researchers-discover-ability-to-improve-resistance-to-temptation.html?medium=newsfebruary |website=concordia.ca |access-date=April 15, 2021 |date=February 13, 2018 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004114/https://www.concordia.ca/news/stories/2018/02/13/researchers-discover-ability-to-improve-resistance-to-temptation.html?utm_source=redirect&medium=newsfebruary&utm_campaign=researchers-discover-ability-to-improve-resistance-to-temptation.html |url-status=live }}

During the COVID-19 pandemic, Chaudhri underwent chemotherapy treatment for advanced ovarian cancer.{{cite news |last1=Gyulai |first1=Linda |title=Why aren't Quebecers with cancer higher on the COVID-19 vaccine priority list? |url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/why-arent-quebecers-with-cancer-higher-on-the-covid-19-vaccine-priority-list |access-date=April 13, 2021 |publisher=Montreal Gazette |date=March 1, 2021 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004110/https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/why-arent-quebecers-with-cancer-higher-on-the-covid-19-vaccine-priority-list |url-status=live }} Since her illness, she launched a GoFundMe campaign to raise money in support of young scholars. Funds from the campaign are earmarked for travel awards to allow young scholars to participate in the annual meeting for the Research Society on Alcoholism.{{cite news |last1=Elkouri |first1=Rima |title=Tout n'est pas terminal |url=https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2021-04-15/tout-n-est-pas-terminal.php |access-date=April 16, 2021 |publisher=La Presse |date=April 15, 2021 |language=French |archive-date=April 15, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210415105537/https://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/2021-04-15/tout-n-est-pas-terminal.php |url-status=live }}{{Cite news|title=Dying Concordia neuroscientist raising funds for scholarship in her name|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/dying-concordia-neuroscientist-raising-funds-for-scholarship-in-her-name|first1=Susan|last1=Schwartz|date=September 1, 2021|access-date=September 1, 2021|newspaper=Montreal Gazette|language=en-CA|archive-date=September 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210901053535/https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/dying-concordia-neuroscientist-raising-funds-for-scholarship-in-her-name|url-status=live}} She was also named a Concordia University Research Fellow.{{cite web |last1=Cohen |first1=J. |title=The university celebrates standout research |url=https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2020/09/16/the-university-celebrates-standout-research.html |website=concordia.ca |access-date=April 15, 2021 |date=September 16, 2020 |archive-date=April 16, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210416004116/https://www.concordia.ca/cunews/main/stories/2020/09/16/the-university-celebrates-standout-research.html |url-status=live }}

Chaudhri and her husband had a son. Chaudhri died on October 5, 2021, more than a year after being diagnosed with ovarian cancer.{{cite web|url=https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/obituary-facing-death-concordia-neuroscientist-nadia-chaudhri-inspired-thousands-and-created-a-legacy|title=Obituary: Facing death, neuroscientist Nadia Chaudhri taught us how to live|first=Susan|last=Schwartz|work=Montreal Gazette|date=October 7, 2021|accessdate=October 7, 2021|archive-date=October 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211007010405/https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/obituary-facing-death-concordia-neuroscientist-nadia-chaudhri-inspired-thousands-and-created-a-legacy|url-status=live}}

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Category:1978 births

Category:2021 deaths

Category:Canadian psychologists

Category:Pakistani emigrants to Canada

Category:Academic staff of Concordia University

Category:Franklin & Marshall College alumni

Category:University of Pittsburgh alumni

Category:Academics from Karachi

Category:Deaths from cancer in Quebec

Category:Deaths from ovarian cancer in Canada