Professional Profile

• Associate Professor, 2016-current
  University of Illinois Comparative Biosciences, Program in Neuroscience
  
  
• Assistant Professor, 2008-2016
  University of Illinois Comparative Biosciences, Program in Neuroscience
  
  
• Assistant Research Scientist, 2006-2008
  University of Michigan, Department of Psychology
  
  
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2005-2006
  University of Michigan, Toxicology Program, Department of Pediatrics
  Advisor: Dr. Vasantha Padmanabhan
  
  
• Postdoctoral Research Fellow, 2003-2005
  University of Michigan, Reproductive Sciences Program, Department of Psychology
  Advisor: Dr. Theresa Lee

Dr. Mahoney attended Smith College (Northampton Mass) and graduated from Bates College (Lewiston ME) with a BA in Biology. She worked as a research assistant at Harvard Medical School for two years before returning to graduate School to get a dual Ph.D. in Zoology and Ecology, Evolutionary Biology, and Behavior at Michigan State University (2003, East Lansing, MI). Dr, Mahoney moved to the University of Michigan for her post-doc where she participated in the Reproductive Sciences Program and Toxicology Training Program. In 2004 Dr. Mahoney was appointed an Assistant Research Scientist in the Department of Psychology. Dr. Mahoney became an Assistant Professor in the Department of Comparative Biosciences (formerly Veterinary Biosciences) at the College of Veterinary Medicine in May of 2006.

I believe that learning is enhanced when students are interested in the subject they are studying; and once they are engaged in the material then they can hone their critical thinking skills. I want the students to feel that they are a part of the classroom experience, and I think they will learn better if they are involved in talking and analyzing the material rather than passively listening to a lecture. To that end I work hard to infuse energy into the classroom and to convey my enthusiasm for the topics I teach. My ultimate goals are that first students will know the information and not just recognize it and second they will be able to utilize their knowledge in the analysis of novel information.

• Structure Function I (Neurobiology portion)
• Structure Function II (Neurobiology portion)
• Structure Function III (Neurobiology portion)
• Neuro and CB courses guest lectures
• CB/PSYCH/ENVST 514 Neurotoxicology (Spring of odd years)

• Dr. Mahoney's doctorate and post doctoral work focused on how biological rhythms regulate the timing of female reproductive events in two different diurnal rodents compared to nocturnal lab rats. Her dissertation examined the timing of mating behavior, luteinizing hormone surges and gonadotropin releasing hormone neuron activation in the the diurnal murid rodent Arvicanthis niloticus compared to the nocturnal lab rat. During her post doc work at the University of Michigan Dr. Mahoney extended this research to a second diurnal rodent, Octodon degus. Her interests in estrogen and female reproduction were expanded during her toxicology post-doctoral experience. Using sheep as a model, Dr. Mahoney examined the changes in steroid receptor expression in the hypothalamus of animals prenatally exposed to environmental estrogens (BPA and Methoxychlor).
• At the University of Illinois Dr. Mahoney has taken her interetest in circadian rhythms, female reproductive cycles, and estrogen in a new direction by 1) examining the effect of disruptions in rhythms (jet lag and shift work) on estrous cyclicity and clock gene expression and 2) characterizing the expression of circadian rhythms in mice with impaired estrogen production or signaling.

• Hatcher KM, Smith RL, Chiang C, Li Z, Flaws JA, Mahoney MM. Associations of phthalate exposure and endogenous hormones with self-reported sleep disruptions: results from the Midlife Women's Health Study. Menopause. 2020. Epub 2020/08/03. doi: 10.1097/GME.0000000000001614. PubMed PMID: 32740484.
  
  
• Balachandran RC, Hatcher KM, Sieg ML, Sullivan EK, Molina LM, Mahoney MM, Eubig PA. Pharmacological challenges examining the underlying mechanism of altered response inhibition and attention due to circadian disruption in adult Long-Evans rats. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2020;193:172915. Epub 2020/04/01. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2020.172915. PubMed PMID: 32224058.
  
  
• Dailey, M.J. and M.M. Mahoney, Circadian Changes in Gut Peptide Levels and Obesity, in Neurological Modulation of Sleep: Mechanisms and Function of Sleep Health, R.R. Watson and V.R. Preedy, Editors. 2020, Academic Press.
  
  
• Hatcher KM, Royston SE, Mahoney MM. Modulation of circadian rhythms through estrogen receptor signaling. Eur J Neurosci. 2020;51(1):217-28. Epub 2018/10/03. doi: 10.1111/ejn.14184. PubMed PMID: 30270552.
  
  
• Hatcher, K. M., Willing, J., Chiang, C., Rattan, S., Flaws, J. A., & Mahoney, M. M. (2019). Exposure to di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate transgenerationally alters anxiety-like behavior and amygdala gene expression in adult male and female mice. Physiol Behav, 207, 7-14. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2019.04.018
  
  
• Hatcher, K. M., & Mahoney, M. M. 2018. Circadian Rhythms-Male. In M. K. Skinner (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Reproduction (Vol. 1, pp. 436-441): Academic Press.
  
  
• Smith, R. L., Flaws, J. A., and Mahoney, M. M. 2018. Factors associated with poor sleep during menopause: results from the Midlife Women's Health Study. Sleep Med, 45, 98-105.
  
  
• Robertson AL, Balachandran RC, Mahoney MM, Eubig PA. 2017. Circadian disruption affects initial learning but not cognitive flexibility in an automated set- shifting task in adult Long-Evans rats. Physiol Behav 179:226-234
  
  
• Royston SE, Bunick D, Mahoney MM. 2016. Oestradiol exposure early in life programs daily and circadian activity rhythms in adult mice. Journal of Neuroendocrinology 28(1).
  
  
• Blattner MS, Mahoney MM. 2015. Changes in estrogen receptor signaling alters the timekeeping system in male mice. Behav Brain Research 294:43-49.
  
  
• Royston, S. E., A. G. Kondilis, S. V. Lord, N. Yasui, J. A. Katzenellenbogen and M. M. Mahoney. 2014. ESR1 and ESR2 differentially regulate daily and circadian activity rhythms in female mice. Endocrinology 155(7): 2613-2623.

• Determining how hormone mimics or antagonists (endocrine disrupting chemicals) can affect the expression of biological rhythms. 
• Investigating circadian rhythms in mice with impaired estrogen signaling
• Determining how and where estrogen acts to modulate the expression of biological rhythms
• Jet lag effects on reproductive function in rats
• Developing a novel model of shift work in rats to determine how conflicts in "work" and light:dark schedules affects health
• The effect of prenatal bisphenol-A on the development of the brain (mice and sheep)

The timing of mating and hormone surges in the diurnal murid rodent Arvicanthis niloticus

• Comparative Biosciences
• Neuroscience Program
• Psychology Department

• Chair, Educational Policy Committee, CVM
• Chair Admissions Committee, Neuroscience Program
• Seminar Committee, Neuroscience Program
• Graduate College Executive Committee, UIUC
• Director of Graduate Studies, Comparative Biosciences, CVM

• Society for Neuroscience
• Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
• Society for Research on Biological Rhythms
• Society for Study of Reproduction

• 2017 Kuhlenschmidt Innovative Teaching Award, College of Veterinary Medicine
• 2016 Dr. Erwin Small Teaching Excellence Award in Veterinary Medicine
• 2012-current Faculty Mentor for Teaching, nominated to mentor faculty in their teaching careers, College of Veterinary Medicine
• 2012 Arnold O. Beckman Research Award, campus award given to “projects of special distinction”
• 2012 Outstanding Instructor Award, Chicago Veterinary Medical Association
• 2010-current Teachers Ranked as Excellent (at least 4.4/5 pt scale), University of Illinois
• 2009 Gordon Research Conference Travel Award
• 2006 Young Investigator Award, Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology
• 2008 Arnold O. Beckman Research Award, campus award given to “projects of special distinction”

Shift work, jet lag, and female reproduction (video)

• 1R01ES032163-01 J. Flaws (PI), I. Bagchi (PI), M. Mahoney (PI), 8/17/2020-5/31/2024
  NIH
  Gender and sex differences in phthalate-induced toxicity in the reproductive system
  This project examines the mechanisms by which a phthalate mixture impacts male and female reproductive physiology and behaviors.
  
  
• Center for Social and Behavioral Science Small Grant Program, University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign
  M. Mahoney (lead PI), C. Davies (Co-PI), J. Flaws (Co-I) and R. Smith (Co-I), 7/31/2020-7/31/2021
  
  
• Companion Animal Research Grant Program, 1/2020-12/2020
  The Association of Urinary Phthalate Metabolites with Feline Hyperthyroidism
  $9,312
  Role: PI
  
  
• Carle Illinois Collaborative Research Seed Funding Program, 8/2017-8/2021
  Impact of hormonal changes and environmental chemicals on sleep disruptions in a population of menopausal women
  $50,000
  Role:PI
  
  
• University of Illinois Campus Research Board, 1/2013-12/2013
  Arnold O. Beckman Award: This project determined the developmental period when estradiol modifies circadian rhythms
  $23,244
  Role:PI