News
Recent News
Two Waggoner Center studies were recently featured in the press.
The first, appearing in the September issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, found that alcoholics with cirrhosis of the liver have more impaired brain function compared to non-cirrhotic alcoholics. The research, headed by Dr. Jianwen Liu, a former graduate student working with Drs. R. Dayne Mayfield and R. Adron Harris, examined gene expression changes in the frontal cortex of the two alcoholic groups. The most striking differences concerned reduced expression of genes involved in neurite growth, neuronal cell adhesion, and synaptic transmission. Without proper connections and communication between cells in the brain, normal function is not possible. The study concluded that alcoholism, complicated by serious medical conditions such as cirrhosis of the liver, adversely affects brain and body function.
The second study was published in the October issue of Public Library of Science-Biology. Recent graduate Yan Wang and members of Dr. Nigel Atkinson's lab examined the link between tolerance to organic solvent inhalants and changes in gene expression. Using the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster as a model system to conduct the study, the investigators found that increased expression of slo K+ channel genes helped neurons recover from sedation and resist the effects of the drug, increasing tolerance. The fruit fly model was used because the cells of its nervous system are remarkably similar to human cells and can help clarify the affects of drugs on the brain.
Honors & Awards
The National Association of Addiction Treatment Providers (NAATP) honored Dr. Carlton Erickson, Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, on May 21 when he was named recipient of the Nelson J. Bradley Award for Lifetime Achievement. The presentation was made at the group's annual meeting in San Diego, California. The NAATP recognized Dr. Erickson’s "tremendous contribution to chemical dependency treatment through his research, writings and presentations."
An analysis performed by Essential Science Indicators (ESI) indicates that Dr. R. Adron Harris' work has entered the top 1% in terms of total citations earned in the field of Neuroscience and Behavior. ESI is a web-based compilation of science indicators derived from Thomson Scientific databases that focuses on highly cited papers and ranks scientists, institutions, countries, and journals across a wide variety of fields. Please see the interview with Dr. Harris, conducted by ScienceWatch.com, regarding his highly cited publications.
The American Chemical Society, Division of Medicinal Chemistry, awarded a prestigious student fellowship to Johnathan E. DeLorbe, a graduate student studying in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry under the direction of Professor Stephen F. Martin. The fellowship is one of eight that is awarded nationally each year. John’s award is in recognition of his academic achievement and the quality and significance of his proposal in the field of medicinal chemistry.
Three of our graduate students won the highly competitive National Research Service Award for Predoctoral Fellows from The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism:
Michelle Dupre (Mihic Lab)
The Role of the TM2-TM3 Linker in Ethanol Modulation of the Glycine Receptor.
Elaina Howard (Gonzales Lab)
Intravenous Ethanol Infusion Effects on Dopamine in the Nucleus Accumbens Core and Shell.
Jonathan Theile (Morrisett Lab)
Ethanol Modulation of Midbrain GABAergic Synaptic Transmission.
Congratulations to our most recent graduates!
Dr. Yan Wang (Atkinson Lab), June 18, 2007
Anesthetic Sedation Induced Epigenetic Chromatin Remodeling Produces Drug Tolerance.
Dr. Megan Mulligan (Bergeson Lab), November 30, 2007
Transcriptomics and the Genetics of Alcohol Consumption in Mice.
Dr. Patrick Killion (Iyer Lab), December 5, 2007
Fungus to Fibroblast: A Functional Genomic Exploration of Eukaryotic Transcriptional Regulation.