Research Services Announces Researcher of the Month for October




Jose A. Moron-Concepcion, PhD
Assistant Professor,
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Scientist, Center for Addiction Research
Website: https://www.utmb.edu/addiction/jose_moronconcepcion.htm

Jose Moron-Concepcion came to UTMB in December 2006 with joint appointments in the Center for Addiction Research and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He has a strong scientific background and expertise in drug addiction, having received his PhD in Biochemistry at the Universidad Autonoma de Barcelona, Spain in 1998, and carried out postdoctoral training at the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Baltimore from 1999 to 2000. He spent 2001 to 2002 as a Visiting Scientist in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio before returning to Barcelona to head the Neurology R&D Programme at Proteomika S.L. He was an Instructor in the Department of Pharmacology and Biological Chemistry, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, from 2003 to 2006, prior to coming to UTMB. Not one to rest on his laurels, since arriving at UTMB, his R03 grant application, “PSD protein expression in extinction of morphine-dependent conditioned behavior,” was funded, and he has submitted a second NIH proposal, and is currently working on a third.

His lab, which he started setting up even before he arrived, studies the molecular determinants of morphine addiction using a combination of biochemical techniques and modern proteomics approaches. Earlier this year, he wrote an article in a high impact journal that shows how morphine treatment alters proteins involved in communication between cells in brain regions associated with learning and memory. This paper, “Morphine administration alters the profile of hippocampal postsynaptic density-associated proteins: a proteomics study focusing on endocytic proteins,” published in Molecular & Cellular Proteomics in January 2007, was also highlighted by the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology in its March 2007 newsletter.

Would you please explain briefly what this research is about?
Dr. Moron: The goal of my research is to seek answers to important questions about addictive processes, to develop new approaches to treatment. In particular, the research in my lab is focused on understanding the basic molecular actions that underlie the behavioral effects of drugs of abuse, and ultimately to identify new targets for future investigations.

What led you to pursue this research?
Dr. Moron: I have always been interested in studying brain function. During my postdoctoral training at NIDA, I had the opportunity to acquire a profound knowledge about neurobiology of drugs of abuse. I found this field totally fascinating, so I decided to take my research further and study the complex mechanisms that underlie addictive behaviors.

How is this research unique?
Dr. Moron: It is unique because it involves the interaction of cutting-edge proteomics tools with animal models. Proteomics is the large-scale study of how many different proteins are regulated individually and as groups. It is a starting point to give an overall picture of how whole sets of proteins are regulated by drugs of abuse. Therefore, it provides a much larger and unique perspective that is not attainable with other methods.