{"id":8423,"date":"2019-01-17T09:39:30","date_gmt":"2019-01-17T14:39:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/?post_type=directory&#038;p=8423"},"modified":"2025-06-12T15:54:30","modified_gmt":"2025-06-12T19:54:30","slug":"melissa-herman-phd","status":"publish","type":"directory","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/","title":{"rendered":"Melissa Herman, PhD"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2><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=\"\" 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\" \/><\/h2>\n<h2>Research Interests<\/h2>\n<div>\n<ul>\n<li>Inhibitory microcircuitry governing network function and it&#8217;s role in motivated behaviors<\/li>\n<li>The role of changes in tonic inhibitory signaling in the physiological dysregulation associated with dependence on alcohol and drugs of abuse<\/li>\n<li>Inhibitory networks governing the flow of information from the periphery and how it impacts central processing<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n<h2>Research Synopsis<\/h2>\n<p>My research interests involve the structure of inhibitory neuronal networks and how these networks change to produce adverse behavioral outcomes. My main interest is how the inhibitory neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) regulates neuronal networks via both synaptic and extrasynaptic forms of inhibition and how alterations in inhibitory networks contribute to clinical conditions such as alcohol use disorder, nicotine, addiction, or stress. My work has focused primarily on three brain regions: the nucleus tractus solitarius (NTS), central and basolateral amygdala, and ventral tegmental area. In each of these areas I have identified local inhibitory networks that control overall excitability and that are dysregulated by exposure to acute and or chronic exposure to alcohol or nicotine.<\/p>\n<h2>Publications<\/h2>\n<div><strong><a class=\"external-link\" title=\"\" href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/sites\/myncbi\/melissa.herman.1\/bibliography\/43552900\/public\/?sort=date&amp;direction=descending\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">View complete list of publications in NCBI library<\/a><\/strong><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Research Interests Inhibitory microcircuitry governing network function and it&#8217;s role in motivated behaviors The role of changes in tonic inhibitory signaling in the physiological dysregulation associated with dependence on alcohol and drugs of abuse Inhibitory networks governing the flow of information from the periphery and how it impacts central processing Research Synopsis My research interests &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/\" aria-label=\"Read more about Melissa Herman, PhD\">Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":3431,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"class_list":["post-8423","directory","type-directory","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Melissa Herman, PhD | Pharmacology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Melissa Herman, PhD | Pharmacology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Research Interests Inhibitory microcircuitry governing network function and it&#8217;s role in motivated behaviors The role of changes in tonic inhibitory signaling in the physiological dysregulation associated with dependence on alcohol and drugs of abuse Inhibitory networks governing the flow of information from the periphery and how it impacts central processing Research Synopsis My research interests &hellip; Read more\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pharmacology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNC-Pharmacology-693103474191364\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-12T19:54:30+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2018\/11\/melissa-herman.jpeg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"130\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"150\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/\",\"name\":\"Melissa Herman, PhD | Pharmacology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2018\/11\/melissa-herman.jpeg\",\"datePublished\":\"2019-01-17T14:39:30+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-12T19:54:30+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2018\/11\/melissa-herman.jpeg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2018\/11\/melissa-herman.jpeg\",\"width\":130,\"height\":150},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Melissa Herman, PhD\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/\",\"name\":\"UNC Pharmacology\",\"description\":\"\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/#organization\",\"name\":\"UNC Department of Pharmacology\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2019\/01\/Pharmacology_logo_2c_rgb_v.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/930\/2019\/01\/Pharmacology_logo_2c_rgb_v.png\",\"width\":488,\"height\":329,\"caption\":\"UNC Department of Pharmacology\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/UNC-Pharmacology-693103474191364\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Melissa Herman, PhD | Pharmacology","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/directory\/melissa-herman-phd\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Melissa Herman, PhD | Pharmacology","og_description":"Research Interests Inhibitory microcircuitry governing network function and it&#8217;s role in motivated behaviors The role of changes in tonic inhibitory signaling in the physiological dysregulation associated with dependence on alcohol and drugs of abuse Inhibitory networks governing the flow of information from the periphery and how it impacts central processing Research Synopsis My research interests &hellip; 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stress\r\nOffice: 1025B Thurston Bowles\r\nPhone: <a href=\"tel:9194453855\">(919) 445-3855<\/a>\r\n<a href=\"https:\/\/www.thehermanlab.com\/\" rel=\"noopener\">Lab Website<\/a>\r\n<a href=\"mailto:melissa_herman@unc.edu\">Email<\/a>"],"_upd_no_link":[],"_upd_degree1":["PhD"],"_upd_degree2":[],"_upd_email":[[{"email_text":"melissa_herman@unc.edu"}]],"_upd_phone":[[{"phone_text":"919-445-3855"}]],"_upd_address":[[{"address":{"address-1":"Bowles Alcohol Research Center","address-2":"1025B Thurston Bowles Building","campus-box":"","city":"Chapel Hill","state":"NC","zip":"27599"}}]],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/8423","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":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/8423\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":25307,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/directory\/8423\/revisions\/25307"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3431"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/pharm\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8423"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}