MARC SCIENTISTS
Center Director
Aaron J. Janowsky, Ph.D.
Professor, Psychiatry & Behavioral Neuroscience, Portland VAMC
Focus: molecular pharmacology of drug addiction and psychiatric disorders
Dr. Janowsky has created a unique environment for exchange between basic and clinical scientists under the MARC,
where discoveries in animal research can be applied to development of human therapy and discoveries from work
in the clinics can be explored with more rigor in the controlled animal models.
Dr. Janowsky's own work focuses on how drugs of abuse impact the release and recycling of dopamine,
a neurotransmitter that is the key neurochemical signaling reward in the brain. Drugs like methamphetamine
disrupt the normal pattern of dopamine's release, leading to the addictive behavior of seeking more drugs.
Drugs of abuse, and especially methamphetamine, are a major concern for Veterans'
Administration hospitals because many veterans who exhibit post-traumatic stress syndrome also have drug addictions.
Scientific Director
 Tamara J. Phillips, Ph.D.
Research Career Scientist, Portland VA Medical Center; Professor of Behavioral Neuroscience
Focus: Genetic and neurochemical investigations of risk factors for methamphetamine and alcohol addiction.
Our genetic studies have the potential to identify mechanisms that influence behaviors associated with drug-seeking
as well as behaviors that reflect changes (adaptations) in the brain due to chronic drug use. Our ultimate goal is to identify
pharmacological interventions to treat and prevent addiction. In addition, our genetic research might allow clinicians in
the future to provide genetic counseling to high-risk individuals. We have as a key goal the transfer of information between
non-human and human species to provide the most rigorous analyses.
Administrator
Ruth Rowland, M.A.
Contact for information on Center activities: rowlanru@ohsu.edu.
Scientists
Charles Allen, Ph.D.
Senior Scientist, Center for Research on Occupational and Environmental Toxicology (CROET)
Focus: Functional properties of suprachiasmic nucleus (SCN) neurons, circadian clock regulation, drugs of abuse and non-photic entrainment
The long-term goal of our research is to understand the functional properties of SCN neurons and how the circadian clock regulates these properties. To reach this goal we are pursuing four lines of research: cellular electrophysiology of the suprachiasmatic nucleus;
regulation of retinal input to the SCN;
role of intracellular Ca2+ as a signaling molecule in the circadian system; and characterization of the retinal ganglion cells projecting to the SCN.
John Belknap, Ph.D.
Senior Research Career Scientist, Research Service, VAMC
Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience, OHSU
Focus: Genetics of sensitivity to drugs of abuse
The Belknap lab uses a wide range of genetic mouse models including inbred strains, intercrosses, selectively-bred lines, knockouts, congenics and ENU mutagen screens to study the genetics of sensitivity to drugs of abuse. One goal is to detect and map to specific chromosomal regions the genes (polygenes) influencing these traits; another goal is to determine the multiple drugs influenced by these quantitative trait loci and how they interact with other genes (gene-gene interactions) throughout the genome.
Focus: Translation of biomedical discovery for public; science education with K-12 schools; advocacy for research in the neurosciences
In the MARC, Dr. Cameron directs the Education Core, disseminating the MARC's results within the center itself, with
other NIDA funded centers, and with the public at large. The MARC's unique "bench-top to bedside" approach provides
great training opportunities for the next generation of both clinicians and scientists. Dr. Cameron also works to increase
information exchange between neuroscientists, science educators and the public on a national basis through his participation
with the Society for Neuroscience.
Dongseok Choi, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Public Health & Preventive Medicine
Focus: Statistical modeling of data in medicine and biology
As co-PI of the MARC's Biostatistics Core, Dr. Choi is interested in statistical modeling of clinical and pre-clinical data in medicine and biology. He also does work in statistical genomics/proteomics, ophthalmology, environmental health problems and spatial-temporal models.
John C. Crabbe, Ph.D.
Professor, Behavioral Neuroscience
Senior Research Career Scientist, Portland VA Medical Center
Director, Portland Alcohol Research Center
Focus: Development and use of genetic mouse models to study sensitivity to drugs of abuse.
Dr. Crabbe directs the Animal Core in its efforts to breed mice that are sensitive or resistant
to specific effects of methamphetamine. MARC investigators in the research components then will be able
to use these specific mouse models to map genes affecting impulsivity and methamphetamine's rewarding effects.
Christopher L. Cunningham, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience; Associate Dean for Graduate Studies, School of Medicine
Focus: Behavioral assessment of the rewarding and aversive effects of abused drugs.
Dr. Cunningham's lab uses rodent models (rats and mice) to examine the genetic mechanisms, brain systems
and behavioral determinants of drug-seeking, drug-taking and relapse.
 David Grandy, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Physiology and Pharmacology
Focus: structure, function and expression of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs)
Our current efforts are focused on receptors activated by either dopamine or opiates.
Dopamine's effects are mediated by a family of receptors encoded by five genes. We are using molecular and genetic techniques, including the generation of transgenic animals, in an effort to understand the roles that each of these receptors play in a variety of behaviors.
Focus: Behavioral genetics, drug abuse, neuroimaging, psychopharmacology
The goal of our research is to understand how genes regulate complex behaviors, particularly complex drug-induced behaviors. The behaviors of interest include the stimulant response to ethanol, haloperidol-induced catalepsy, exploratory behavior, acoustic startle and prepulse inhibition. The genetic dimensions of these behaviors can be studied in laboratory animals (generally mice) using classical genetic techniques such as selective breeding and recombinant inbred strategies. Molecular genetic strategies can then be used to map the relevant gene loci and eventually isolate the relevant genes.
William Hoffman, Ph.D., M.D.
Associate Professor, Psychiatry
Staff Psychiatrist, Mental Health and Clinical Neurosciences Division, Portland VAMC
Focus: Effects of methamphetamine on cognition and decision-making
Dr. Hoffman's research group studies recovery from the effects of methamphetamine on decision-making using functional MRI.
Better understanding of the time-course of changes in brain function during early abstinence from methamphetamine will help clinicians individualize treatment
and improve chances for success.
 Marilyn Huckans
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry
Marilyn Huckans is co-PI of the 2008-9 MARC pilot project, "Neuroimmune mediators of cognitive impairment in methamphetamine abuse."
Focus: Associative learning theory; neurobiological basis of learning and memory
My research examines basic learning processes at associative and neurobiological levels of analysis. I am particularly interested in the mechanisms that occur during initial acquisition, in which new relations are established between previously unrelated events, and extinction, which occurs as those relations established during acquisition are severed.
 Jennifer M. Loftis, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry
Research Assistant Professor, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience
Focus: Neuroimmunological mechanisms contributing to substance abuse, cognitive impairment and depression
Dr. Loftis’s translational research program uses rodents and humans to characterize the inflammatory pathways contributing to cognitive dysfunction and depressogenesis, particularly in patients with a history of substance abuse and hepatitis C. It is hypothesized that circulating inflammatory cytokines act on central nervous system (CNS) cytokine receptors, which in turn stimulate the production of inflammatory mediators (e.g., other proinflammatory cytokines and nitric oxide) in specific brain regions, thus contributing to cognitive impairments and alterations in mood.
 Gregory P. Mark, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience
Focus: Effects of methamphetamine on brain chemistry and function
Dr. Mark's group studies the ways in which methamphetamine can affect the release and
action of neurotransmitters, particularly acetylcholine and dopamine. They also study the
circumstances that cause animals to self-administer methamphetamine with the hope of finding
drugs that could offset methamphetamine craving and relapse.
Dennis McCarty, Ph.D.
Professor, Department of Public Health & Preventive Medicine
Focus: Public-health aspects of substance-abuse research
Through collaboration with colleagues at OHSU, policy makers in state and local government, and practitioners in community treatment programs, Dr. McCarty seeks to increase support for the treatment of alcohol and drug abuse, improve the quality of treatment services, and link policy, practice and research.
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Focus: Epidemiology, biostatistics related to mental health services
Dr. McFarland directs a program of health-services research addressing the impact of managed care on delivery of behavioral health treatments and outcomes. His research encompasses the pharmacoeconomics and pharmacoepidemiology of psychotropic medications.
Sahana Misra, M.D.
Assistant professor, Department of Psychiatry, OHSU
Staff Psychiatrist, Portland VAMC
Associate Director, Psychiatry Residency Training Program, OHSU
Dr. Misra facilitates clinical/preclinical translational research training for the MARC's Education Core in her role as residency associate director for OHSU's department of psychiatry.
 Suzanne H. Mitchell, Ph.D.
Associate professor, Departments of Behavioral Neuroscience & Psychiatry
Focus: Relationship between drug use and both impulsive behavior and risk-taking
Dr. Mitchell's lab uses human and nonhuman subjects to examine whether impulsive
decision-making and risk-taking precedes initiation of drug use, whether neuroadaptations
to drug use impact the propensity to behave impulsively, and whether levels of impulsivity
interact with the ability of individuals to cease drug use.
 Kim A. Neve, Ph.D.
Research Pharmacologist, Portland VA Medical Center; Professor,
Behavioral Neuroscience
Focus: Characterization of dopamine receptors
We study how drugs used to treat Parkinson's disease and schizophrenia
bind to dopamine receptors, and what the functional consequences of that
binding are, using cultured cells, neurons, and rat brain tissue.
Jacob Raber, Ph.D.
Associate professor, Departments of Behavioral Neuroscience and Neurology; Affiliate Associate Scientist, Division of Neuroscience, ONPRC
Focus: Effects of genetic and environmental factors on brain function in mouse models of
neurological diseases.
Using experimental mouse models of human neurological diseases, we analyze brain function,
dissect mechanisms underlying cognitive impairments, and develop tests and treatment strategies
to improve brain function in humans suffering from these diseases. Routinely, we use a
combination of behavioral, neuroendocrinological, pharmacological, neurochemical,
immunohistochemical, cellular, and molecular approaches.
 Andrey E. Ryabinin, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Department of Behavioral Neuroscience
Focus: Neural substrates and molecular mechanisms of drugs of abuse
Dr. Ryabinin's MARC pilot project investigates the role of the corticotropin releasing factor (CRF) peptide system in methamphetamine sensitization and addiction. He also collaborates on Gregory Mark's component using rodent models to identify
brain regions that change activity after self-administration of methamphetamine.
 Alexander Stevens, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience
Focus: Neural basis of decision-making and risk-taking, language and audition; functional magnetic resonance imaging of cortical reorganization in the blind; language abnormalities in schizophrenia.
Currently our lab is examining decision-making in adolescents and
adults and the developmental differences in the neural systems that
underlie decision-making. Current theory holds that some of the high-risk
behaviors engaged in by adolescents reflect the relative immaturity
of the frontal lobes and their connections with other brain
structures. We use behavioral tasks to measure decision-making under conditions
of uncertainty and combine this with functional magnetic resonance
imaging (fMRI), a technique for studying the moment-by-moment activity
of the brain with high spatial resolution. |
