Dr. Barnes is an active researcher who received her Ph.D. in Nutrition and Food Science in 2003 from Wayne State University. The central themes of Dr. Barnes’ research projects are hypertension and neuroscience. Her expertise in these topics stems back to her graduate work were her thesis investigated obesity-induced hypertension. Throughout her career, she has continuously investigated changes that occur in neuronal populations that are in cardio-regulatory sights within the brain. She is interested in identifying the mechanisms that regulate these neurons and ultimately contribute to the development of hypertension in various medical conditions.