{"id":23839,"date":"2024-09-25T10:29:34","date_gmt":"2024-09-25T14:29:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/?post_type=directory&#038;p=23839"},"modified":"2026-02-25T13:22:30","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T18:22:30","slug":"laura-ferguson-phd","status":"publish","type":"directory","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/laura-ferguson-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Laura Ferguson, PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignnone size-medium wp-image-11601\" src=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2019\/01\/OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-webCR2-300x204.png\" alt=\"This badge indicates Laura Ferguson is a UNC Office of Graduate Education trained mentor\" width=\"300\" height=\"204\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2019\/01\/OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-webCR2-300x204.png 300w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2019\/01\/OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-webCR2-768x522.png 768w, https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2019\/01\/OGE-Trained-mentor-badge-webCR2-1024x696.png 1024w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/p>\n<h2>Research Interests<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Alcohol use disorders<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Research Synopsis<\/h2>\n<p>The Ferguson Laboratory investigates the molecular and systems level mechanisms that drive alcohol use disorder and related neuropsychiatric conditions. We are particularly interested in how communication between the brain and periphery influences vulnerability to addiction and shapes treatment outcomes. To address these questions, we combine computational, molecular, and behavioral approaches in both mice and humans. Our ultimate goal is to develop blood-based biomarkers and data driven treatment strategies that advance personalized medicine approaches for psychiatric disorders.<\/p>\n<h2>Publications<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/myncbi\/laura.ferguson.2\/bibliography\/public\/\">View complete list of publications in NCBI library<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research Interests Alcohol use disorders Research Synopsis The Ferguson Laboratory investigates the molecular and systems level mechanisms that drive alcohol use disorder and related neuropsychiatric conditions. We are particularly interested in how communication between the brain and periphery influences vulnerability to addiction and shapes treatment outcomes. To address these questions, we combine computational, molecular, and &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/laura-ferguson-phd\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Laura Ferguson, PhD\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":25425,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-23839","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"_upd_display_name":["Laura Ferguson, PhD"],"_upd_reverse_display_name":["Ferguson, Laura"],"_upd_last_name":["Ferguson"],"_upd_first_name":["Laura"],"_upd_sortorder_override":[],"_upd_sortorder":["1"],"_upd_gallery_summary":["<strong>Assistant Professor<\/strong>\r\n<span style=\"background-color: #007fae;color: #fff\">Accepting Rotation Students<\/span>\r\nResearch: Addiction and psychiatric disorders; transcriptomics and systems biology; neuroimmune and brain peripheral communication; data driven biomarkers and therapeutics\r\nOffice: 3027 Thurston-Bowles Bldg.\r\nPhone: <a href=\"tel+19194450916\">(919) 445-0916<\/a>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/tarheels.live\/fergusonlab\/\">Lab Website<\/a>\r\n<a href=\"mailto:Laura_Ferguson@med.unc.edu\">Email<\/a>"],"_upd_no_link":[],"_upd_degree1":[],"_upd_degree2":[],"_upd_email":[[{"email_text":"Laura_Ferguson@med.unc.edu"}]],"_upd_phone":[[{"phone_text":"(919) 445-0916"}]],"_upd_address":[[{"address":{"address-1":"104 Manning Dr.","address-2":"3027 Thurston Bowles Building","campus-box":"CB# 7818","city":"Chapel Hill","state":"NC","zip":"27599-7818"}}]],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/23839","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/directory"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/23839\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25426,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/23839\/revisions\/25426"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23839"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}