Thomas Green, PhD
December 2020
Dr. Thomas Green received his PhD in experimental psychology from the University of Kentucky under Dr. Michael Bardo and completed his postdoctoral training at UT Southwestern Medical Center with Dr. Eric Nestler, both world-renowned scientists in the field of addiction. He was recruited to UTMB in 2009 and is currently an associate professor in the Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology. He serves as an associate member of the Pharmacology & Toxicology, Neuroscience, and Human Pathophysiology & Translational Medicine graduate programs and is a member of the Center for Addiction Research and the Palermo-UTMB Joint PhD Program faculty. He also co-founded the Mental Health Research Group at UTMB.
Dr. Green’s research program focuses on complex psychiatric conditions, such as addiction, depression, and anxiety, that are a function of interactions between genes and the environment. His current research using preclinical animal models focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying protective addiction and depression phenotypes that could be of therapeutic value for these disorders. Dr. Green’s research has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 2010, with multiple R01 and R03 grants. He has published 62 peer-reviewed journal articles and has served as a reviewer for over 25 scientific journals.
Dr. Green is also a dedicated educator in the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences (GSBS) and the School of Medicine. Since joining UTMB, he has been an active course director, lecturer, and mentor, particularly in the Pharmacology & Toxicology and Neuroscience graduate programs. He has mentored multiple graduate students and medical students and participates as a summer undergraduate mentor each year. His doctoral trainees have a successful track record of publishing numerous impactful papers, being supported by competitive NIH-funded grants, and receiving competitive awards, including traineeships, fellowships, and travel awards. His graduates have earned noteworthy postdoctoral and faculty positions at such institutions as the University of Pennsylvania Medical School and the University of North Carolina Medical School. During his tenure, Dr. Green has made multiple contributions to curriculum development in the GSBS. He has created several courses for the Pharmacology & Toxicology, Neuroscience, and Postdoctoral Programs. He also co-developed the curriculum for the Pharmacology & Toxicology Master of Science degree program that was launched in 2019. He is the associate director of the Neuroscience Graduate Program and also mentors its students in the organization of the Neuroscience Graduate Program student symposium, now in its fifth year and an important component of the program.
In addition to his teaching and mentoring, Dr. Green has served on numerous institutional, regional, state, and national committees, including being the founding chair of the Gulf Coast Consortia Mental Health Research Cluster, member of the College on the Problems of Drug Dependence, chairing program advisory and curriculum committees, and member of multiple admissions committees, among many others. For his commitment to education and mentoring, please join the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences in celebrating
Dr. Green as the December 2020 GSBS Focus on Mentoring designee.