Jessica Higginbotham, PhD

Jessica Higginbotham, PhD, is a St. Louis native who left for a PhD – and came right back. After earning her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Saint Louis University in 2012, she completed her doctoral training in neuroscience at Washington State University before returning in 2019 as a postdoctoral fellow at WashU. She is now an instructor in the Department of Anesthesiology at WashU Medicine.  

In the Moron-Concepcion Lab, Jessica develops novel approaches to understand the neural mechanisms of pain and maladaptive opioid use, with the ultimate goal of improving how these conditions are treated in the real world.

Outside the lab, she, her partner Robero, and their daughter Alivia, are usually on the move – trying new foods, traveling, kayaking, or engaged in fiercely competitive MarioKart races.