Assistant Professor

Pharmacology

Uniformed Services University of Health Sciences (Bethesda, MD)

Drug-induced synaptic plasticity

My primary area of interest is in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a heterogeneous population of neurons that plays a role in endogenous reward and is affected by many drugs of abuse. My colleagues and I have found a novel long-term potentiation (LTP) of GABAergic synapses onto VTA dopaminergic neurons, which can be altered by opioids. My project focuses on the characterization of this inhibitory LTP (iLTP), and its underlying mechanisms. Additionally, we are interested in defining the molecular mechanisms by which opioids can modify the excitability of the VTA neurons through the alterations of GABAergic transmission, and plasticity in the VTA. All experiments have been conducted in midbrain slices of rats using visualized patch clamp recording.