University at Buffalo (UB)
From left, Justin Siemian; Craig Werner, PhD; Jennifer Martin; Zi-Jun Wang, PhD; Rathipriya Viswanathan; Lakeisha Lewter; Jianfeng Liu, PhD; and Jun-Xu Li, MD, PhD.
Students, Trainees in Pharmacology and Neuroscience Present Research
Published March 16, 2017 This content is archived.
story by dirk hoffman
Graduate students and trainee researchers in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology and the neuroscience program presented research talks and posters at the 2017 Behavior, Biology and Chemistry: Translational Research in Addiction conference.
The conference was held March 4-5 in San Antonio, Texas.
Won Travel Awards to Participate in Conference
Jun-Xu Li, MD, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, traveled to the event accompanying four graduate students and three postdoctoral trainees who each won travel awards.
Li noted there were nearly 200 meeting attendants and that UB was well represented at the annual gathering hosted by the University of Texas.
Student, Postdoctoral Associate Present Talks
A student in the doctoral program in neuroscience and a postdoctoral associate presented talks at the conference.
Justin Siemian, who is mentored by Li, gave a talk titled “Inhibition of Ca2+ Signaling Attenuates the Antinociceptive but not Discriminative Stimulus Effects of the Imidazoline I2 Receptor Agonist 2-BFI in Rats.”
“The Role of Hippocampal Activin Signaling in Perpetuated Cocaine Craving,” was the title of the talk presented by Craig Werner, PhD, a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of David Dietz, PhD, associate professor and interim chair of pharmacology and toxicology.
Potential Drug Addiction Therapies Topics of Research
Two postdoctoral fellows and three graduate students presented posters at the conference.
Jianfeng Liu, PhD, a postdoctoral fellow in Li’s laboratory, presented a poster titled “Effects of Trace Amine-Associated Receptor 1 Agonists on Morphine-Related Behaviors.”
Zi-Jun Wang, PhD, who conducts research in Dietz’s laboratory, presented a poster titled “Activin A is Increased in the Nucleus Accumbens Following a Cocaine Binge.”
Rathipriya Viswanathan, a student in the master’s program in neuroscience, presented a poster titled “Examining the Involvement of the BMP Pathway Following Cocaine Self-Administration in Rats.” She is mentored by Dietz.
Jennifer Martin, a student in the doctoral program in pharmacology and toxicology who is mentored by Dietz, presented a poster titled “A Novel Role for Sox10 in Mediating Cellular and Behavioral Responses to Heroin.”
Lakeisha Lewter, a doctoral student in the neuroscience program, presented a poster titled “Antinociceptive Effects of a Novel α2/α3-Subtype Selective GABAA Receptor Positive Allosteric Modulator.” She is mentored by Li.