About Us > Students & Fellows - Department of Behavioral Neuroscience

Christina N. Lessov-Schlaggar, Ph.D.

Training
1989-1993 B.S., Molecular Biology/Biochemistry, Western Washington University, Bellingham, Washington

1994-2000 Ph.D., Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Sciences University, Portland, Oregon

2000-2002 Postdoctoral Fellow, Psychiatric Genetics, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

Present Positions
2002 - present: Genetic Epidemiologist, Center for Health Sciences, SRI International, Menlo Park, California

2005 - present: Visiting Research Instructor, Department of Psychiatry, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, Missouri

E-mail: christina.lessov-schlaggar@sri.com

Background & Interests
My background and training have been firmly rooted in the field of addiction. My current interests focus on understanding the genetic and environmental influences on the natural history of tobacco use, and on the transitions from first use to regular use and nicotine dependence. More specifically, I am interested in how initial sensitivity to nicotine may be related to continued tobacco use, and the role that sex and comorbid conditions such as depression and impulsivity may play in experimentation and uptake of tobacco use.

Peer reviewed manuscripts
1. Roberts AJ, Lessov CN, Phillips TJ (1995) Critical role for glucocorticoid receptors in stress- and ethanol-induced locomotor sensitization. JPharmacol Exp Theraps 275:790-797

2. Crabbe JC, Phillips TJ, Feller DJ, Hen R, Wenger CD, Lessov CN, Schafer GL (1996) Elevated alcohol consumption in null mutant mice lacking 5HT1B receptors. Nat Genet 14:98-101

3. Phillips TJ, Lessov CN, Harland RD, Mitchell SR (1996) Evaluation of potential genetic associations between ethanol tolerance and sensitization in BXD/Ty recombinant inbred mice. Journal of
Pharmacol Exp Therap 277:613-623

4. Phillips TJ, Roberts AJ, Lessov CN (1997) Behavioral sensitization to ethanol: Genetics and the effects of stress. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 57:1-7

5. Kelly MA, Rubinstein M, Lessov CN, Burkhart-Kasch S, Li G, Bunzow JR, Fang Y, Phillips TJ, Grandy DK, Low MJ (1997) Targeted mutagenesis of the dopamine D2 receptor reveals gene dosage effects and compensatory mechanisms for locomotor activity in the mouse. J Neurosci 18:3470-3479

6. Lessov CN, Phillips TJ (1998) Duration of sensitization to the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol in mice. Psychopharmacol 135:374-382

7. Lessov CN, Risinger FO, Phillips TJ (2001) Attenuation of ethanol-induced conditioned taste aversion in mice sensitized to the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol. Behav Neurosci 115:146-153

8. Lessov CN, Phillips TJ (2001) Voluntary ethanol drinking in C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice before and after sensitization to the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol. Psychopharmacol 155:91-99

9. Phillips TJ, Shen EH, McKinnon CS, Burkhart-Kasch S, Lessov CN, Palmer AA (2002) Forward, relaxed, and reverse selection for reduced and enhanced sensitivity to ethanol's locomotor stimulant effects in mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 26:593-602

10. Lessov CN, Phillips TJ (2003) Cross-sensitization between the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol and those of morphine and cocaine in mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 27:616-627

11. Lessov CN, Martin NG, Statham DJ, Todorov AA, Slutske WS, Bucholz KK, Heath AC, Madden PAF (2004) Defining nicotine dependence for genetic research: Evidence from Australian twins. Psychol Med 34:865-879

12. Swan GE, Benowitz NL, Jacob P, III, Lessov CN, Tyndale RF, Wilhelmsen K, Krasnow RE, McElroy M, Moore S, Wamback M (2004) Pharmacogenetic investigation of nicotine metabolism: Measurement of pharmacokinetic phenotypes in twins. Twin Research 7:435-448

13. Swan GE, Benowitz NL, Lessov CN, Jacob P, III, Tyndale RF, Wilhelmsen KC (2005) Nicotine metabolism: The impact of CYP2A6 on estimates of additive genetic influence. Pharmacogenet Genomics 15:115-125

14. Ring HZ, Lessov CN, Reed T, Marcus R, Holloway L, Swan GE, Carmelli D (2005) Heritability of plasma sex hormones and hormone binding globulin in adult male twins. J Clin Endocrinol Met 90:3653-3658

15. Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Reed T, Swan GE, Krasnow RE, DeCarli C, Marcus R, Holloway L, Wolf PA, Carmelli D (2005) Association of sex hormones with brain morphology and cognition in healthy elderly men. Neurology 65:1591-1596

16. Wilhelmsen KC, Swan GE, Cheng LS-C, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Amos C, Feiler HS, Hudmon KS, Ring HZ, Andrews JA, Tildesley E, Benowitz N, Hops H (2005) Support for previously identified alcoholism susceptibility loci in a cohort selected for smoking behavior. Alcohol Clin Exp Res
29:2108-2115

17. Pergadia ML, Madden PAF, Lessov CN, Todorov AA, Bucholz KK, Martin NG, Heath AC (2006) Genetic and environmental influences on extreme personality dispositions in adolescent female twins. J Child Psychol Psychiatry 47:902-909

18. Benowitz NL, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Swan GE, Jacob P, III (2006) Female Sex and Oral Contraceptive Use Accelerate Nicotine Metabolism. Clin Pharmacol Therap 79:480-88

19. Swan GE, Hyman H, Wilhelmsen KC, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Cheng LS, Hudmon KS, Amos C, Feiler HS, Ring HZ, Andrews JA, Tildesley E, Benowitz N (2006) A Genome-wide screen for nicotine dependence susceptibility loci. Am J Med Genet B Neuropsychiatr Genet 141(4):354-60

20. Palmer AA, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Ponder CA, McKinnon CS, Phillips TJ (2006) Sensitivity to the locomotor stimulant effects of ethanol and allopregnanolone: a QTL study of common genetic influence. Genes Brain Behav 5:506-17

21. Hamilton AS, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Cockburn MG, Unger JB, Cozen W, Mack TM (2006) Gender differences in determinants of smoking initiation and persistence in California twins. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarker Preven 15:1189-9

22. Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Pang Z, Swan GE, Guo Q, Wang S, Cao W, Unger JB, Johnson CA, Liming L (2006) Heritability of Cigarette Smoking and Alcohol Use in Chinese Male Twins: the Qingdao Twin Registry. Int J Epidemiol 35:1278-88<

23. Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Swan GE, Reed T, Wolf PA, Carmelli D (2006) Longitudinal genetic analysis of executive function in elderly men. Neurobiol Aging Sep 9; [Epub ahead of print]

24. Benowitz NL, Swan GE, Jacob P III, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Tyndale RF (2006) CYP2A6 Genotype and the Metabolism and Disposition Kinetics of Nicotine. Clin Pharmacol Therap 80(5):457-67

25. Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Hops H, Brigham J, Hudmon KS, Andrews JA, Tildesley E, McBride D, Jack LM, Javitz HS, Swan GE (2007) Association of adolescent smoking trajectories and nicotine dependence. Nicotine Tob Res (in press)

Invited publications
1. Lessov CN, Swan GE, Ring HZ, Khroyan TV, Lerman C (2004) Genetics and prevention of drug abuse: Implications for transdisciplinary research and practice. Subst Use Misuse 39:1515-1569

2. Swan GE, Lessov CN (2004) Gene-environment interactions in nicotine addiction: the need for a large-scale, collaborative effort. Subst UseMisuse 39:2083-2085

3. Swan GE, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Carmelli D, Schellenberg GD, LaRue A (2005) Apolipoprotein E e4 and 5-year change in neurobehavioral functioning in nondemented, community-dwelling older men and women. J Geriatr Psychiatry Neurol 18:196-201

4. Swan GE, Lessov-Schlaggar CN, Krasnow RE, Wilhelmsen KC, Jacob P III, Benowitz NL (2007) Genetic and environmental sources of variation in heart rate response to infused nicotine in twins. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev (in press)

Last Updated: March 16, 2007