She joined the faculty after earning a doctoral degree in behavioral neuroscience at UB and completing postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania. Her predoctoral work examined the neurohormonal systems governing both food and fluid intake. In her postdoctoral research, Mietlicki-Baase investigated the distributed neurobiological underpinnings of food intake and body weight control, with particular emphasis on areas of the brain thought to mediate reward processing and motivated behavior. Her current research interests build upon her postdoctoral training and focus on the role of the mesolimbic reward system of the brain in energy intake and food preference. She is especially interested in translationally relevant research that may inform the treatment of human obesity.