Academic Credentials
  • Ph.D., Neuroscience, University of Southern California, 2019
  • B.A., Psychology, Auburn University, 2011
Professional Honors
  • Society for Neuroscience
  • Society for the Study of Ingestive Behavior

Dr. Hilary Dorton is a neuroscientist with expertise in visual processing, attentional bias, habit formation, impulsivity, as well metabolism and neuroendocrinology.   She applies her expertise to investigate human behavior and decision-making under different physiological states, and how humans integrate internal and external stimuli to drive behavior.  Her experience allows her to evaluate a variety of scenarios, including automobile and motorcycle accidents, slip-and-fall accidents, and product-related injury.

Dr. Dorton's dissertation work combined functional imaging techniques (fMRI, ASL) behavioral measures (eating, exercise, sleep), and hormone sampling (e.g. glucose metabolism) to understand how metabolic state impacts attention to environmental cues.  She led a multi-year study exploring GLP-1 signaling, sugar intake, visual food-cue reactivity, and food-choice.  She was also a key contributor to a longitudinal neuroimaging study exploring neural development in children exposed to gestational diabetes in utero.  She has worked with young children, adolescents, and adults.

Prior to her work at USC, Dr. Dorton was a researcher at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, where she studied visual circuitry.  In particular, she studied the impacts of developmental genetic and physical perturbations on visual acuity.  In addition to her academic training, she brings consulting experience in the biotechnology space and user experience research.