Dr. Bellinger successfully defended her PhD thesis, “Structural, Functional, and Transcriptional Responses of Nucleus Accumbens Microglia to Long-access Cocaine Self-Administration,” under the guidance of Dr. Kate Reissner!
Publications
Abstinence from cocaine self-administration promotes microglial pruning of astrocytes, which drives cocaine-seeking behavior. Testen A, VanRyzin JW, Bellinger TJ, Kim R, Wang H, Gastinger MJ, Witt EA, Franklin JP, Vecchiarelli HA, Picard K, Scofield MD, Tremblay MÈ, Reissner KJ. Cell Rep. 2025 Aug 26;44(8):116137. doi: 10.1016/j.celrep.2025.116137. Epub 2025 Aug 12. PMID: 40802516. PMC12788899.
Investigating cocaine- and abstinence-induced effects on astrocyte gene expression in the nucleus accumbens. Franklin JP, Testen A, Mieczkowski PA, Hepperla A, Crynen G, Simon JM, Wood JD, Harder EV, Bellinger TJ, Witt EA, LaShae Powell N, VanRyzin JW, Reissner KJ. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Jul 29:2024.08.05.606656. doi: 10.1101/2024.08.05.606656. PMID: 39149305 Preprint. PMC11326167
Abstinence-Dependent Effects of Long-Access Cocaine Self-Administration on Nucleus Accumbens Astrocytes Are Observed in Male, But Not Female, Rats. Kim R, Testen A, Harder EV, Brown NE, Witt EA, Bellinger TJ, Franklin JP, Reissner KJ. eNeuro. 2022 Sep 21;9(5):ENEURO.0310-22.2022. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0310-22.2022. Print 2022 Sep-Oct. PMID: 35995558. PMC9491344
Honors, Awards & Highlights
Service & Outreach Award, UNC Department of Pharmacology Awardee (2025)
Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA for Predoctoral Fellows F31 Fellowship Awardee (2024 – 2025)
Gordon Research Conference (GRC) Carl Storm Underrepresented Minority (CSURM) Fellowship (2024)
The Harper Family Graduate Student Award, UNC Department of Pharmacology Awardee (2023)
UNC Pharmacological Sciences T32 Training Grant Awardee (2022 – 2023)
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience T32 Training Grant Awardee (2021 – 2022)
UNC-Chapel Hill North Carolina Excellence Fellowship Awardee (2020 – 2021)
We wish you all the best, Tania!