Leslie Stone-Roy

Stone-Roy received her Ph.D. from the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, and her graduate and postdoctoral work focused on understanding how the taste system develops and communicates with the nervous system. Currently, she is an assistant professor in the Department of Biomedical Sciences and the Molecular, Cellular and Integrative Neurosciences Program. She teaches multiple neuroscience courses, organizes and runs outreach activities, and does research on sensory substitution and student learning. Her teaching responsibilities include Introduction to Systems Neurobiology (BMS 425), Research in Biomedical Sciences (BMS 401), Functional Neuroanatomy (BMS 345), Cellular Neurobiology (BMS 325), and Neuronal Circuits, Systems and Behavior (BMS/NB 505). In addition, she mentors graduate and undergraduate students working on research and serves as a thesis advisor for several honor’s and neuroscience undergraduate students each year.

Stone-Roy strongly believes in giving back to the Fort Collins community and does a substantial amount of outreach in the form of neuroscience presentations to local students ranging from preschool through high school. She directs CSU’s large Brain Awareness Week program and is responsible for recruiting and training approximately 100 CSU students to help her provide 10-15 interactive stations covering a variety of neuroscience topics at middle and high schools. This program typically impacts over 1,000 Poudre School District students, and she’s contributed to the development of similar programs across the country. Stone-Roy also visits schools individually throughout the year to talk to students and teachers about neurobiology, sensory systems and brain anatomy and has given presentations for the general public as well. Stone-Roy has a small research program in collaboration with a mechanical engineer who earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from CSU. Together with CSU students enrolled in BMS 401 or independent study, Stone-Roy and Joel Moritz are working to optimize and test a device that stimulates the touch receptors of the tongue for sensory substitution. The goal of this project is to use patterns of stimulation to convey information to the brain for people who have suffered from some type of sensory loss. The group holds two patents associated with the research and is collaborating with an orthodontic company.