David Dietz PhD
David Dietz
PhD
Professor; Chair
Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences
Specialty/Research Focus
Addictions; Behavioral pharmacology; Cytoskeleton and cell motility; Drug abuse; Gene Expression; Gene Therapy; Neurobiology; Neuropharmacology; Signal Transduction; Transcription and Translation
Professional Summary:
Drug addiction is a disabling psychiatric disease leading to enormous burdens for those afflicted, their friends and family, as well as society as a whole. Indeed, the addict will seek out and use illicit substances even in the face of severe negative financial, family and health consequences. It is believed that drugs of abuse ultimately “hijack” the reward circuitry of the CNS leading to cellular adaptations that facilitate the transition to the “addicted” state As is the case with both rodent models of drug taking, and well as throughout the global human population, not all individuals exposed to drugs of abuse will meet the classical definition of being truly “addicted”. We are looking at how molecular and behavioral plasticity mediates susceptibility to drug abuse and relapse like behaviors.
Education and Training:
- PhD, Neuroscience, Florida State University (2008)
- BA, Psychology, Rutgers University, Summa Cum Laude (2000)
Employment:
- Associate Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology, Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (2016-present)
- Assistant Professor, Pharmacology and Toxicology, State University of New York at Buffalo Jacobs School of Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (2011–2016)
- Post Doctoral Fellow, Neuroscience, Mount Sinai Medical School (2008–2011)
- Post Doctoral Fellow, Psychiatry, University of Texas Southwestern (2008)
Research Expertise:
- Molecular and Behavioral Basis of Psychiatric Disorders: We are interested how neuronal and structural plasticity underlies why some individuals are more susceptible to compulsive behaviors including drug addiction.
Grants and Sponsored Research:
- June 2014–May 2019
Cocaine-induced neuroplasticity:a new role for TGF beta signaling
NIDA
Role: Principal Investigator
$1,250,000 - February 2006–February 2008
Individual Differences in Behavioral Sensitization
NIDA
Role: Principal Investigator
$70,000
Journal Articles:
- Werner CT, Mitra S, Martin JA, Stewart AF, Lepack AE, Ramakrishnan A, Gobira PH, Wang ZJ, Neve RL, Gancarz AM, Shen L, Maze I, Dietz DM, Dietz D. (2019) Ubiquitin-proteasomal regulation of chromatin remodeler INO80 in the nucleus accumbens mediates persistent cocaine craving. Sci Adv (Oct), 5(10): 0351-0351.
- Martin JA, Werner CT, Mitra S, Zhong P, Wang ZJ, Gobira PH, Stewart AF, Zhang J, Erias K, Siemian JN, Hagarty D, Mueller LE, Neve RL, Li JX, Chandra R, Dietz KC, Lobo MK, Gancarz AM, Yan Z, Dietz DM, Dietz D. (2019) A novel role for the actin-binding protein drebrin in regulating opiate addiction. Nat Commun (Sep), 10(1): 4140-4140.
- Calipari ES, Godino A, Salery M, Damez-Werno DM, Cahill ME, Werner CT, Gancarz AM, Peck EG, Jlayer Z, Rabkin J, Landry JA, Smith ACW, Defilippi P, Kenny PJ, Hurd YL, Neve RL, Dietz DM, Nestler EJ,. (2019) Synaptic Microtubule-Associated Protein EB3 and SRC Phosphorylation Mediate Structural and Behavioral Adaptations During Withdrawal From Cocaine Self-Administration. J Neurosci (Jul), 39(29): 5634-5646.
- Cahill ME, Walker DM, Gancarz AM, Wang ZJ, Lardner CK, Bagot RC, Neve RL, Dietz DM, Nestler EJ. (2018) The dendritic spine morphogenic effects of repeated cocaine use occur through the regulation of serum response factor signaling. Mol Psychiatry (Jan), 23(6): 1474-1486.
- Chandra R, Engeln M, Schiefer C, Patton MH, Martin JA, Werner CT, Riggs LM, Francis TC, McGlincy M, Evans B, Nam H, Das S, Girven K, Konkalmatt P, Gancarz AM, Golden SA, Iñiguez SD, Russo SJ, Turecki G, Mathur BN, Creed M, Dietz DM, Lobo MK. (2017) Drp1 Mitochondrial Fission in D1 Neurons Mediates Behavioral and Cellular Plasticity during Early Cocaine Abstinence. Neuron (Dec), 96(6): 1327-1341.
- Martin JA, Caccamise A, Werner CT, Viswanathan R, Polanco JJ, Stewart AF, Thomas SA, Sim FJ, Dietz DM. (2017) A Novel Role for Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells (OPCs) and Sox10 in Mediating Cellular and Behavioral Responses to Heroin. Neuropsychopharmacology (Dec).
- Cahill ME, Walker DM, Gancarz AM, Wang ZJ, Lardner CK, Bagot RC, Neve RL, Dietz DM, Nestler EJ. (2017) The dendritic spine morphogenic effects of repeated cocaine use occur through the regulation of serum response factor signaling. Mol Psychiatry (May).
- Wang ZJ, Martin JA, Gancarz AM, Adank DN, Sim FJ, Dietz DM. (2017) Activin A is increased in the nucleus accumbens following a cocaine binge. Sci Rep (Mar), 7: 43658-43658.
- Ceglia I, Lee KW, Cahill ME, Graves SM, Dietz DM, Surmeier DJ, Nestler EJ, Nairn AC, Greengard P, Kim Y. (2017) WAVE1 in neurons expressing the D1 dopamine receptor regulates cellular and behavioral actions of cocaine. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (Feb), 114(6): 1395-1400.
- Damez-Werno DM, Sun H, Scobie KN, Shao N, Rabkin J, Dias C, Calipari ES, Maze I, Pena CJ, Walker DM, Cahill ME, Chandra R, Gancarz A, Mouzon E, Landry JA, Cates H, Lobo MK, Dietz D, Allis CD, Guccione E, Turecki G, Defilippi P, Neve RL, Hurd YL, Shen L, Nestler EJ. (2016) Histone arginine methylation in cocaine action in the nucleus accumbens. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (Aug), 113(34): 9623-9628.
- Wang, Z., Martin, JA., Mueller, LE., Caccamise, A., Werner, CT., Neve, RL., Gancarz, AM., Li, J-X.,Dietz DM. (2016) BRG1 in the Nucleus Accumbens Regulates Cocaine-Seeking Behavior. Biological Psychiatry (Jun).
- Sun H, Damez-Werno DM, Scobie KN, Shao NY, Dias C, Rabkin J, Koo JW, Korb E, Bagot RC, Ahn FH, Cahill ME, Labonté B, Mouzon E, Heller EA, Cates H, Golden SA, Gleason K, Russo SJ, Andrews S, Neve R, Kennedy PJ, Maze I, Dietz DM, Allis CD, Turecki G, Varga-Weisz P, Tamminga C, Shen L, Nestler EJ,. (2015) ACF chromatin-remodeling complex mediates stress-induced depressive-like behavior. Nat Med (Oct), 21(10): 1146-1153.
- Gancarz A, Jouroukhin Y, Saito A, Shevelkin A, Mueller LE, Kamiya A, Dietz DM, Pletnikov MV. (2015) DISC1 signaling in cocaine addiction: Towards molecular mechanisms of co-morbidity. Neurosci Res (Sep).
- Gancarz AM, Wang ZJ, Schroeder GL, Damez-Werno D, Braunscheidel KM, Mueller LE, Humby MS, Caccamise A, Martin JA, Dietz KC, Neve RL, Dietz DM. (2015) Activin receptor signaling regulates cocaine-primed behavioral and morphological plasticity. Nat Neurosci (Jul), 18(7): 959-961.
- Tomasello DL, Gancarz-Kausch AM, Dietz DM, Bhattacharjee A,. (2015) Transcriptional Regulation of the Sodium-activated Potassium Channel SLICK (KCNT2) Promoter by Nuclear Factor-𝜅B. J Biol Chem (Jul), 290(30): 18575-18583.
- Dias C, Dietz D, Mazei-Robison M, Sun H, Damez-Werno D, Ferguson D, Wilkinson M, Magida J, Gao V, Neve R, Nestler EJ. (2015) Dishevelled-2 regulates cocaine-induced structural plasticity and Rac1 activity in the nucleus accumbens. Neurosci Lett (Jun), 598: 23-28.
- Wright KN, Hollis F, Duclot F, Dossat AM, Strong CE, Francis TC, Mercer R, Feng J, Dietz DM, Lobo MK, Nestler EJ, Kabbaj M,. (2015) Methyl supplementation attenuates cocaine-seeking behaviors and cocaine-induced c-Fos activation in a DNA methylation-dependent manner. J Neurosci (Jun), 35(23): 8948-8958.
- Chandra R, Francis TC, Konkalmatt P, Amgalan A, Gancarz AM, Dietz DM, Lobo MK,. (2015) Opposing role for Egr3 in nucleus accumbens cell subtypes in cocaine action. J Neurosci (May), 35(20): 7927-7937.
- Koo JW, Mazei-Robison MS, LaPlant Q, Egervari G, Braunscheidel KM, Adank DN, Ferguson D, Feng J, Sun H, Scobie KN, Damez-Werno DM, Ribeiro E, Peña CJ, Walker D, Bagot RC, Cahill ME, Anderson SA, Labonté B, Hodes GE, Browne H, Chadwick B, Robison AJ, Vialou VF, Dias C, Lorsch Z, Mouzon E, Lobo MK, Dietz DM, Russo SJ, Neve RL, Hurd YL, Nestler EJ,. (2015) Epigenetic basis of opiate suppression of Bdnf gene expression in the ventral tegmental area. Nat Neurosci (Mar), 18(3): 415-422.
- Gancarz-Kausch AM, Adank DN, Dietz DM,. (2014) Prolonged withdrawal following cocaine self-administration increases resistance to punishment in a cocaine binge. Sci Rep (Nov), 4: 6876-6876.
- Thorn DA, Jing L, Qiu Y, Gancarz-Kausch AM, Galuska CM, Dietz DM, Zhang Y, Li JX,. (2014) Effects of the trace amine-associated receptor 1 agonist RO5263397 on abuse-related effects of cocaine in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology (Sep), 39(10): 2309-2316.
- Friedman AK, Walsh JJ, Juarez B, Ku SM, Chaudhury D, Wang J, Li X, Dietz DM, Pan N, Vialou VF, Neve RL, Yue Z, Han MH,. (2014) Enhancing depression mechanisms in midbrain dopamine neurons achieves homeostatic resilience. Science (Apr), 344(6181): 313-319.
- Vialou V, Bagot RC, Cahill ME, Ferguson D, Robison AJ, Dietz DM, Fallon B, Mazei-Robison M, Ku SM, Harrigan E, Winstanley CA, Joshi T, Feng J, Berton O, Nestler EJ,. (2014) Prefrontal cortical circuit for depression- and anxiety-related behaviors mediated by cholecystokinin: role of ΔFosB. J Neurosci (Mar), 34(11): 3878-3887.
- Dietz DM, Kennedy PJ, Sun H, Maze I, Gancarz AM, Vialou V, Koo JW, Mouzon E, Ghose S, Tamminga CA, Nestler EJ,. (2014) ΔFosB Induction in Prefrontal Cortex by Antipsychotic Drugs is Associated with Negative Behavioral Outcomes. Neuropsychopharmacology (Feb), 39(3): 538-544.
- Scobie KN, Damez-Werno D, Sun H, Shao N, Gancarz A, Panganiban CH, Dias C, Koo J, Caiafa P, Kaufman L, Neve RL, Dietz DM, Shen L, Nestler EJ,. (2014) Essential role of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation in cocaine action. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (Jan).
- Gancarz-Kausch AM, Schroeder GL, Panganiban C, Adank D, Humby MS, Kausch MA, Clark SD, Dietz DM,. (2013) Transforming Growth Factor Beta Receptor 1 Is Increased following Abstinence from Cocaine Self-Administration, but Not Cocaine Sensitization. PLoS One (Dec), 8(12): 83834-83834.
- Lobo MK, Zaman S, Damez-Werno DM, Koo JW, Bagot RC, DiNieri JA, Nugent A, Finkel E, Chaudhury D, Chandra R, Riberio E, Rabkin J, Mouzon E, Cachope R, Cheer JF, Han MH, Dietz DM, Self DW, Hurd YL, Vialou V, Nestler EJ,. (2013) ΔFosB induction in striatal medium spiny neuron subtypes in response to chronic pharmacological, emotional, and optogenetic stimuli. J Neurosci (Nov), 33(47): 18381-18395.
- Chandra R, Lenz JD, Gancarz AM, Chaudhury D, Schroeder GL, Han MH, Cheer JF, Dietz DM, Lobo MK,. (2013) Optogenetic inhibition of D1R containing nucleus accumbens neurons alters cocaine-mediated regulation of Tiam1. Front Mol Neurosci (May), 6: 13-13.
- Liu J, Dietz K, Deloyht JM, Pedre X, Kelkar D, Kaur J, Vialou V, Lobo MK, Dietz DM, Nestler EJ, Dupree J, Casaccia P,. (2012) Impaired adult myelination in the prefrontal cortex of socially isolated mice. Nat Neurosci (Nov), 15(12): 1621-1623.
- Sun H, Maze I, Dietz DM, Scobie KN, Kennedy PJ, Damez-Werno D, Neve RL, Zachariou V, Shen L, Nestler EJ,. (2012) Morphine Epigenomically Regulates Behavior through Alterations in Histone H3 Lysine 9 Dimethylation in the Nucleus Accumbens. J Neurosci (Nov), 32(48): 17454-17464.
- Koo JW, Mazei-Robison MS, Chaudhury D, Juarez B, LaPlant Q, Ferguson D, Feng J, Sun H, Scobie KN, Damez-Werno D, Crumiller M, Ohnishi YN, Ohnishi YH, Mouzon E, Dietz DM, Lobo MK, Neve RL, Russo SJ, Han MH, Nestler EJ,. (2012) BDNF is a negative modulator of morphine action. Science (Oct), 338(6103): 124-128.
- Kurita M, Holloway T, García-Bea A, Kozlenkov A, Friedman AK, Moreno JL, Heshmati M, Golden SA, Kennedy PJ, Takahashi N, Dietz DM, Mocci G, Gabilondo AM, Hanks J, Umali A, Callado LF, Gallitano AL, Neve RL, Shen L, Buxbaum JD, Han MH, Nestler EJ, Meana JJ, Russo SJ, González-Maeso J,. (2012) HDAC2 regulates atypical antipsychotic responses through the modulation of mGlu2 promoter activity. Nat Neurosci (Sep), 15(9): 1245-1254.
- Damez-Werno D, LaPlant Q, Sun H, Scobie KN, Dietz DM, Walker IM, Koo JW, Vialou VF, Mouzon E, Russo SJ, Nestler EJ,. (2012) Drug experience epigenetically primes Fosb gene inducibility in rat nucleus accumbens. J Neurosci (Jul), 32(30): 10267-10272.
- Dietz DM, Sun H, Lobo MK, Cahill ME, Chadwick B, Gao V, Koo JW, Mazei-Robison MS, Dias C, Maze I, Damez-Werno D, Dietz KC, Scobie KN, Ferguson D, Christoffel D, Ohnishi Y, Hodes GE, Zheng Y, Neve RL, Hahn KM, Russo SJ, Nestler EJ,. (2012) Rac1 is essential in cocaine-induced structural plasticity of nucleus accumbens neurons. Nat Neurosci (Apr).
- Dietz DM, Nestler EJ,. (2012) From father to offspring: paternal transmission of depressive-like behaviors. Neuropsychopharmacology (Jan), 37(1): 311-312.
- Hollis F, Gaval-Cruz M, Carrier N, Dietz DM, Kabbaj M,. (2012) Juvenile and adult rats differ in cocaine reward and expression of zif268 in the forebrain. Neuroscience (Jan), 200: 91-98.
- Knoll AT, Muschamp JW, Sillivan SE, Ferguson D, Dietz DM, Meloni EG, Carroll FI, Nestler EJ, Konradi C, Carlezon WA. (2011) Kappa opioid receptor signaling in the basolateral amygdala regulates conditioned fear and anxiety in rats. Biol Psychiatry (Sep), 70(5): 425-433.
- Dietz DM, Laplant Q, Watts EL, Hodes GE, Russo SJ, Feng J, Oosting RS, Vialou V, Nestler EJ,. (2011) Paternal transmission of stress-induced pathologies. Biol Psychiatry (Sep), 70(5): 408-414.
- Covington HE, Maze I, Sun H, Bomze HM, Demaio KD, Wu EY, Dietz DM, Lobo MK, Ghose S, Mouzon E, Neve RL, Tamminga CA, Nestler EJ,. (2011) A role for repressive histone methylation in cocaine-induced vulnerability to stress. Neuron (Aug), 71(4): 656-670.
- Brown TE, Lee BR, Mu P, Ferguson D, Dietz D, Ohnishi YN, Lin Y, Suska A, Ishikawa M, Huang YH, Shen H, Kalivas PW, Sorg BA, Zukin RS, Nestler EJ, Dong Y, Schlüter OM. (2011) A silent synapse-based mechanism for cocaine-induced locomotor sensitization. J Neurosci (Jun), 31(22): 8163-8174.
- Wilkinson MB, Dias C, Magida J, Mazei-Robison M, Lobo M, Kennedy P, Dietz DM, Covington H, Russo S, Neve R, Ghose S, Tamminga C, Nestler EJ. (2011) A novel role of the WNT-dishevelled-GSK3ß signaling cascade in the mouse nucleus accumbens in a social defeat model of depression. J Neurosci (Jun), 31(25): 9084-9092.
- Young KA, Liu Y, Gobrogge KL, Dietz DM, Wang H, Kabbaj M, Wang Z. (2011) Amphetamine alters behavior and mesocorticolimbic dopamine receptor expression in the monogamous female prairie vole. Brain Res (Jan), 1367: 213-222.
- Christoffel DJ, Golden SA, Dumitriu D, Robison AJ, Janssen WG, Ahn HF, Krishnan V, Reyes CM, Han MH, Ables JL, Eisch AJ, Dietz DM, Ferguson D, Neve RL, Greengard P, Kim Y, Morrison JH, Russo SJ,. (2011) IkB kinase regulates social defeat stress-induced synaptic and behavioral plasticity. J Neurosci (Jan), 31(1): 314-321.
- Lobo MK, Covington HE, Chaudhury D, Friedman AK, Sun H, Damez-Werno D, Dietz DM, Zaman S, Koo JW, Kennedy PJ, Mouzon E, Mogri M, Neve RL, Deisseroth K, Han MH, Nestler EJ. (2010) Cell type-specific loss of BDNF signaling mimics optogenetic control of cocaine reward. Science (Oct), 330(6002): 385-390.
- LaPlant Q, Vialou V, Covington HE, Dumitriu D, Feng J, Warren BL, Maze I, Dietz DM, Watts EL, Iñiguez SD, Koo JW, Mouzon E, Renthal W, Hollis F, Wang H, Noonan MA, Ren Y, Eisch AJ, Bolaños CA, Kabbaj M, Xiao G, Neve RL, Hurd YL, Oosting RS, Fan G, Morrison JH, Nestler EJ. (2010) Dnmt3a regulates emotional behavior and spine plasticity in the nucleus accumbens. Nat Neurosci (Sep), 13(9): 1137-1143.
- Hollis F, Wang H, Dietz D, Gunjan A, Kabbaj M. (2010) The effects of repeated social defeat on long-term depressive-like behavior and short-term histone modifications in the hippocampus in male Sprague-Dawley rats. Psychopharmacology (Berl) (Jul), 211(1): 69-77.
- Vialou V, Robison AJ, Laplant QC, Covington HE, Dietz DM, Ohnishi YN, Mouzon E, Rush AJ, Watts EL, Wallace DL, Iñiguez SD, Ohnishi YH, Steiner MA, Warren BL, Krishnan V, Bolaños CA, Neve RL, Ghose S, Berton O, Tamminga CA, Nestler EJ. (2010) DeltaFosB in brain reward circuits mediates resilience to stress and antidepressant responses. Nat Neurosci (Jun), 13(6): 745-752.
- Russo SJ, Dietz DM, Dumitriu D, Morrison JH, Malenka RC, Nestler EJ. (2010) The addicted synapse: mechanisms of synaptic and structural plasticity in nucleus accumbens. Trends Neurosci (Jun), 33(6): 267-276.
- Stack A, Carrier N, Dietz D, Hollis F, Sorenson J, Kabbaj M. (2010) Sex differences in social interaction in rats: role of the immediate-early gene zif268. Neuropsychopharmacology (Jan), 35(2): 570-580.
- Maze I, Covington HE, Dietz DM, LaPlant Q, Renthal W, Russo SJ, Mechanic M, Mouzon E, Neve RL, Haggarty SJ, Ren Y, Sampath SC, Hurd YL, Greengard P, Tarakhovsky A, Schaefer A, Nestler EJ. (2010) Essential role of the histone methyltransferase G9a in cocaine-induced plasticity. Science (Jan), 327(5962): 213-216.
- Liu Y, Aragona BJ, Young KA, Dietz DM, Kabbaj M, Mazei-Robison M, Nestler EJ, Wang Z. (2010) Nucleus accumbens dopamine mediates amphetamine-induced impairment of social bonding in a monogamous rodent species. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A (Jan), 107(3): 1217-1222.
- Dietz DM, Dietz KC, Nestler EJ, Russo SJ. (2009) Molecular mechanisms of psychostimulant-induced structural plasticity. Pharmacopsychiatry (May), 42 Su: 69-78.
- Renthal W, Kumar A, Xiao G, Wilkinson M, Covington HE, Maze I, Sikder D, Robison AJ, LaPlant Q, Dietz DM, Russo SJ, Vialou V, Chakravarty S, Kodadek TJ, Stack A, Kabbaj M, Nestler EJ. (2009) Genome-wide analysis of chromatin regulation by cocaine reveals a role for sirtuins. Neuron (May), 62(3): 335-348.
- Russo SJ, Wilkinson MB, Mazei-Robison MS, Dietz DM, Maze I, Krishnan V, Renthal W, Graham A, Birnbaum SG, Green TA, Robison B, Lesselyong A, Perrotti LI, Bolaños CA, Kumar A, Clark MS, Neumaier JF, Neve RL, Bhakar AL, Barker PA, Nestler EJ. (2009) Nuclear factor kappa B signaling regulates neuronal morphology and cocaine reward. J Neurosci (Mar), 29(11): 3529-3537.
- Dietz DM, Dietz KC, Moore S, Ouimet CC, Kabbaj M. (2008) Repeated social defeat stress-induced sensitization to the locomotor activating effects of d-amphetamine: role of individual differences. Psychopharmacology (Berl) (May), 198(1): 51-62.
- Dietz D, Wang H, Kabbaj M. (2007) Corticosterone fails to produce conditioned place preference or conditioned place aversion in rats. Behav Brain Res (Aug), 181(2): 287-291.
- Lancaster K, Dietz DM, Moran TH, Pletnikov MV,. (2007) Abnormal social behaviors in young and adult rats neonatally infected with Borna disease virus. Behav Brain Res (Jan), 176(1): 141-148.
- Dietz DM, Curtis KS, Contreras RJ,. (2006) Taste, salience, and increased NaCl ingestion after repeated sodium depletions. Chem Senses (Jan), 31(1): 33-41.
- Dietz DM, Tapocik J, Gaval-Cruz M, Kabbaj M,. (2005) Dopamine transporter, but not tyrosine hydroxylase, may be implicated in determining individual differences in behavioral sensitization to amphetamine. Physiol Behav (Oct), 86(3): 347-355.
- Dietz D, Vogel M, Rubin S, Moran T, Carbone K, Pletnikov M. (2004) Developmental alterations in serotoninergic neurotransmission in Borna disease virus (BDV)-infected rats: a multidisciplinary analysis. J Neurovirol (Oct), 10(5): 267-277.
- Dietz DM, Pletnikov MV. (2003) Postnatal weight gain inhibition does not account for neurobehavioral consequences of neonatal Borna disease virus infection. Physiol Behav (Nov), 80(2-3): 359-366.
Professional Memberships:
- American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) (2016–present)
- American Association for the Advancement of Science (2004–present)
- Society for Neuroscience (1999–present)
Presentations:
- "From Father to Offspring" Stress 2012; Stress; epigenetics of stress (2012)
- "The Role of Rac1 in cocaine addiction" Seminar Series; Cold Spring Harbor Labratories; neuroscience (2012)
- "The role of the small GTPase Rac1 in cocaine-induced plasticity" 5th Annual Neuroscience Research Day; Buffalo Society for Neuroscience Chapter (2011)
- "The role of Rac1 in cociane-induced spines" Molecular Neuroscience Siganiling; New York University -Skirball Institute of Medicine; Molecular Neurobiology Program (2011)
- "The Molecular Basis for Individual Differences in Behavioral Sensitization" Brian Robinson Memorial Research; ; Department of Neurology (2008)
- "Individual Difference to Stress Induced Sensitization" Keystone Symposium (2007)
Service Activities:
- Faculty Council; Member (2012–2014)
- Judge for Post-doctroral Research Day; Judge (2012)
- Works In Progress; Program Coordinator (2011–present)
- Undergraduate Research and Summer Programs Subcommittee The overall goal of this comittee is the enhancement of course curriculum and the undergraduate and graduate programs at all levels. So far the Committee has increased communication and interaction between faculty members and has helped focus the goals to bring the department to the next level of academic and research excellence.; Member (2011–2013)