Faculty & Research

 

The Preclinical Molecular Neuropharmacology Research Team

Morrow Lab : (left to right) Sandeep Kumar, M.D. Tessa Lindsay, Kevin Boyd, Todd O'Buckley, Qinglu Ren, Jonathan Beckley, A. Leslie Morrow, Ph.D, Patrizia Porcu, Ph.D., Dave Werner, Ph.D., and Sarah Alward.

Current Research Projects

--Neurosteroids and Ethanol Interactions

--Mechanisms of Alcohol Addiction Pathogenesis

--Stress, Alcohol and GABAergic Neuroactive Steroids

Research Contributions

--Discovered that neurosteroids mediate specific pharmacological effects of ethanol in rodents and contribute to subjective effects of ethanol in humans.

--Found that alcohol-dependent rats are sensitized to the anticonvulsant effects of neurosteroids. Neurosteroids protect against the CNS hyperexcitability of alcohol withdrawal.

--Discovered that chronic ethanol consumption alters GABAA receptor function, due to alterations in gene expression, receptor phosphorylation, and receptor trafficking.

--Identified a neurosteroid marker of risk for binge alcohol consumption in cynomologus monkeys.  Dexamethasone  suppression of plasma deoxycorticosterone and pregnenolone predict high alcohol drinking.

--Found that chronic ethanol consumption alters neurosteroid responses to HPA axis modulation.