Roles
- Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
- Member - Medical Scientist Training Program (MD/PhD) Steering Committee
- Member - Neuroscience Graduate Program Steering Committee
- Member - University of Miami Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee
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Biography
By way of my training, my career started at the University of Miami Miller School of medicine (2006-2008) where I worked on leveraging the neuroregenerative properties of Schwann cells to achieve functional recovery following spinal cord injury. Then, at The Scripps Research Institute (2008-2013), I worked on mechanisms of addiction and pharmacology and identified the insulinotropic peptide, GLP-1, as a regulator of nicotine satiety. I completed my postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School (2013-2019), where I developed in vivo tools for epigenetic profiling of dopamine neurons, where we identified the transcription factor, Gmeb1, as a master switch for dopamine neuron gene expression and function. Combining my areas of expertise, my laboratory focuses on understanding the molecular and epigenetic underpinnings of addictive disorders by employing a diverse array of techniques, including in vivo gene editing, rodent models of IV drug self-administration, virus-based nuclear capture tools for low-input chromatin and transcriptome profiling of genetically-defined neuronal and microglial populations, and optogenetic and chemogenetic approaches for neural circuit control of complex behaviors. I currently serve as PI on an Avenir Award for Genetics or Epigenetics in Substance Use Disorders (DP1 – NIH Director’s Pioneer Award). -
Education & Training
Education
Post Graduate Training
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Honors & Awards
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Teaching Interests
I am currently the course director for Molecular and Cellular Neuroscience (NEU 760) and Developmental Neuroscience (NEU 761) for UM's Neuroscience Graduate Program where I focus on basic mechanisms of neurotransmission and neuroepignetics. I also lecture for System Biology and Approaches in Pharmacology (MCP 752) and Computational Pharmacology & Fundamental Drug Design (MCP 753) for the Molecular and Cellular Pharmacology Graduate Program. Here, I focus on the neuropharmacology of addictive disorders as well as computational approaches for understanding gene expression in the brain. Lastly, I serve as course director for Introduction to Neuroscience (NEU 110), an introductory course tailored for high school students with an interest in pursuing a career in biomedical sciences. -
Research Interests
My laboratory is focused on understanding how we go from taking drugs to feel good to taking drugs to feel normal. To do this, we combine a diverse array of cell type-specific epigenetic profiling techniques with clinically relevant models of drug addiction. This approach allows us to understand the programs that drive the molecular changes which could ultimately determine the behavioral course of drug-taking and relapse. As an extension of our work we are exploring the application of our low-input epigenetic profiling techniques on brain cancers such as glioblastoma where cellular yield represents a technical impediment to understanding its pathophysiology. -
Publications
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