Faculty mentors on our T32 have expertise and interest in mechanisms from cross-translational perspectives. The discovery of new mechanisms underlying SUD processes in controlled animal and human patient studies drive advances in healthcare for SUDs.
• Mechanisms of action of alcohol (Wu), opiates (Anastasio, Cisneros, Cunningham, Houghton, Kuo, La, Wilkes, Wu), psychostimulants (Allen, Anastasio, Cisneros, Cunningham, Dineley, Green, Hommel), palatable, high-fat food (Anastasio, Cunningham,
Hommel, Vargas),and vaping (Ameredes)
• Chemical, genomic, functional and anatomical studies of adhesion proteins, ion channels, G protein-coupled receptors, transporters, and transcription factors involved in SUDs (Allen, Anastasio, Cisneros,
Cunningham, Dineley, Gelman, Green, Eugenin, Hommel, La, Limon, Rudenko, Laezza, Vargas, Zhou)
• CNS circuitry engaged in reward, and phenotypes associated with SUDs and relapse (e.g., depression, impulsivity, cue reactivity) (Anastasio,
Cunningham, Dineley, Green, Hommel, Houghton, Wilkes, Wu)
• Trait, state and environmental vulnerability to drug misuse, SUDs, behavioral health disorders (Green, Houghton, Pappadis, Temple)
• Imaging sciences to interrogate biological
markers of SUDs (Hommel, Vargas)
• Pain, neural systems, and analgesia (Gelman, Houghton, La, Laezza, Wilkes)
• Neuroinflammation, CNS injury mechanisms in neuroinfectious diseases (e.g., Covid-19, HIV, Zika) and SUDs (Ameredes,
Cisneros, Cunningham, Dineley, Eugenin, Gelman, La, Limon, Routh, Stephens, Vargas, Wu)