Media Coverage

Sleep Review has published a cover story profiling Margarita Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. It describes the contributions she has made since the 1980s to the study of melatonin and its impact on the body. The story quotes Alfred J. Lewy, professor emeritus at Oregon Health and Science University, who talked about her “elegant pharmacological studies” and their impact on designing drugs to treat disorders related to circadian rhythms. He said: “One cannot imagine the melatonin receptor field without Margarita’s many contributions.”  The article also discusses the successful mentorship program she launched, Collaborative Learning and Integrated Mentorship in the Biosciences (CLIMB) at UB, which over the past 11 years has hosted more than 500 students, half of whom are underrepresented in the sciences.

Medical Xpress, Neuroscience News and other websites report on a UB preclinical study that examines how binge drinking affects adolescents, especially the adolescent brain. Prior research has suggested that alcohol exposure during adolescence can lead to the development of various health risks, such as addiction, depression and brain trauma, in adulthood. “To this end, we wanted to understand how adolescent binge drinking changes brain function and brain connectivity, the ability of different regions in the brain to interact,” said Panayotis K. Thanos, PhD, senior author and senior research scientist in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB.  

The Buffalo News published a feature on Rasheen Powell II, an expert in the neurobiology of pain, who earned his doctorate from the Jacobs School in August. Powell is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital. Powell says part of research including discovering a way to “silence molecules responsible for inflammatory pain that is not an opioid.”

The Buffalo News published an op-ed by Jerrold Winter, professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, which states that resistance to vaccines has been constant throughout history. “Resistance to vaccines is as old as vaccines themselves,” says Winter. “The bases for anti-vaccination sentiment have remained remarkably constant over the past century and a half: religious objections, ignorance of medical science and opposition to government intrusion into our lives.”

A Forbes article highlighted research conducted by Arindam Bhattacharjee, assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, about inflammatory pain in rats and a new non-addictive painkiller that was created from the research. While pain information gets electrically conveyed from pain neurons to the brain, the communication between an injury site and a pain neuron is molecular. The molecular communication depends upon a specific type of pain neuron and a specific type of protein, and it can be interrupted. “Within an hour or so of application, bodily enzymes destroy whatever peptides didn’t make it inside the cells,” said Bhattacharjee. “This means that the peptide is not in the bloodstream long and not entering the heart, the brain, the liver, or the kidney, and it’s not causing addiction or systemic side effects,” he said. The research was covered in a separate article by Drug Target Review.

USA Today quoted David Dietz, professor and chair of pharmacology at the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB. He commented on the 40,000 Americans who die every year with toxic levels of opioids in their body, a problem exacerbated by a hard-to-detect synthetic version of the drug that experts warn is flooding the market. "This has been a real issue with pills being sold on the internet and down the street," said Dietz. The article also appeared in Yahoo! News and other media outlets.

The Naked Scientists, a science podcast based at Cambridge University, reported on the research by Arin Bhattacharjee, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and colleagues, who have developed a long-lasting, non-opioid pain reliever. “We found a specific type of pathway in a very important type of pain neuron that encodes ongoing pain,” he said, “and by looking at the molecular level, we were able to understand how neurons become overactive. We developed a pharmacological tool… that could actually block that signal and when we did, we saw a strong reduction in pain behavior.”

Multiple news outlets reported on UB researchers who developed a novel local treatment for chronic pain. “Our small peptides are able to penetrate nerve endings and provide long-lasting pain relief after a single administration,” said senior author Arin Bhattacharjee, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

Science Japan reported on a melatonin study involving an international research team that included Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology and senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion, that revealed how melatonin is involved in the elimination of jet lag and daily lethargy in mammals.

A U.S. News & World Report story on possible links between depression and marijuana use quoted Samir Haj-Dahmane, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology. There is evidence of a toxic relationship between the two, but there is also evidence of pot helping with some symptoms of depression. “Chronic stress is one of the major causes of depression,” said Haj-Dahmane. “Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilized moods and ease depression.”

UB research has revealed how regeneration of myelin in multiple sclerosis fails and, potentially, more efficient ways to treat it. Led by Fraser J. Sim, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology, the research includes the first demonstration that an existing drug, currently being studied as a cancer therapy, can alter key signaling cascades that result in multiple sclerosis.

Sanjay Sethi, MD, professor of medicine and chief of the Division of Pulmonary, Critical Care and Sleep Medicine, is part of a research team now looking at melatonin as a possible treatment for those with mild cases of COVID-19. Sethi says the idea was brought to his attention by his colleague and leader of the research team, Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology and senior associate dean for diversity and inclusion. “It cuts down on inflammation,” says Sethi. During this first trial, the team will research whether using higher dosages is safe to treat mild-to-moderate COVID-19 cases. 

An article reports Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences researchers have launched a clinical trial to test if melatonin can be used to treat COVID-19. Led by Sanjay Sethi, MD, director of UB’s Clinical Research Office and deputy director of the university’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute, UB’s randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled pilot clinical trial testing melatonin actually is one of a very few worldwide to look at this common over-the-counter supplement,” according to the article. The article also noted the trial itself will be led by Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

Articles about marijuana and depression mention a UB study that found that THS reduced chronic stress levels and quote Samir Haj-Dahmane, PhD, research associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology and senior research scientist in UB’s Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions, who said: “Chronic stress is one of the major causes of depression. … Using compounds derived from cannabis — marijuana — to restore normal endocannabinoid function could potentially help stabilize moods and ease depression.”

Newly discovered molecules can modulate circadian rhythms by binding to a melatonin receptor in the biological clock, according to new research in mice. The research could facilitate the development of targeted therapies that can either mimic or counteract the actions of melatonin. “This discovery allows us to now focus on the development of unique new molecules to generate a response that will help bring sleep patterns and other biological rhythms in line with environmental light and dark cycles, providing the sense of well-being that is only experienced when such rhythms are in sync,” says Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology.

Jerrold C. Winter, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology, is interviewed for a story about how older adults can navigate the complications of aging and stay healthy. He discusses topics ranging from dietary supplements to weight gain, saying, for example, that, “I really do not believe that there is something inherent in aging that leads to weight gain. I think it can be controlled at any stage of our lives.”

A new preclinical study by UB researchers investigated how drug abstinence changes gene expression. The research reveals the genetic basis of relapse, one of the most detrimental but poorly understood behaviors related to addiction. “The novelty of our current paper is that it begins to reveal what happens on a cellular basis, what genes are turned on and off during a prolonged period of abstinence,” says David Dietz, PhD, a senior author of the study and associate professor and chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.

Health News Digest reports on a new book “Our Love Affair with Drugs: The History, the Science, the Politics,” (Oxford University Press) written by Jerrold C. Winter, PhD, professor of pharmacology and toxicology.  

Research on molecular mechanisms behind heroin addiction relapse is led by David Dietz, PhD, associate professor and chair of pharmacology and toxicology, who said this study is one of few that examine the changes in the brain that cause people to relapse. “In the not too distant future, with all the findings, we can hopefully start to find real treatment to relieve the horrific conditions that people suffer from addiction with and break the cycle of drug-taking, relapse, drug-taking, relapse,” he said.

Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, SUNY Distinguished Professor of pharmacology and toxicology, is interviewed about an international team of researchers that has used an X-ray laser to create the first detailed maps of two melatonin receptors that tell our bodies when to go to sleep or wake up and guide other biological processes, a finding that could enable researchers to design better drugs to combat sleep disorders, cancer and Type 2 diabetes. "Since the discovery of melatonin 60 years ago, there have been many landmark discoveries that led to this moment," she said.