# overview
I am interested in the molecular and circuit mechanisms of complex behavior and how alterations in synaptic connectivity between neurons lead to the maladaptive features of neuropsychiatric illnesses. Impairments in synaptic pruning are observed in autism spectrum disorders and may contribute to symptoms such as sensory hypersensitivity and social overstimulation. Repeated exposure to drugs of abuse also alters synapses in brain reward regions, and addiction-related synaptic and behavioral changes, similar to learning and memory, require the synthesis, or translation, of proteins in their local vicinity. Together these findings suggest that addiction is promoted and sustained through the coercion of normal plasticity mechanisms. Thus, investigating the function of developmental proteins in the adult brain, with regard to psychiatric and substance-related disorders, may reveal novel therapeutic and preventative strategies.

# keywords[]
Attention Deficit Disorder With Hyperactivity

# keywords[]
Mrna Cleavage And Polyadenylation Factors

# keywords[]
Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction

# keywords[]
3214 Pharmacology And Pharmaceutical Sciences

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center - (Dallas, Texas, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
George Mason University - (Fairfax, Virginia, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Hendrix College - (Conway, Arkansas, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
George Mason University - (Fairfax, Virginia, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
McLean Hospital - (Belmont, Massachusetts, United States)

# educationAndTraining[].organization.label
Harvard Medical School - (Boston, Massachusetts, United States)

# publications[].label
Jugular Vein Catheter Design and Cocaine Self-Administration Using Mice: A Comprehensive Method.

# publications[].label
Nuclear HDAC5 Suppresses Cocaine Reward-Like Behaviors Through Repression of Its Target Gene, Npas4, in the Nucleus Accumbens

# publications[].label
Viral-Mediated Rescue of Arc/Arg3.1 Knock-Out Demonstrates a Requirement for Function in the NAC in Regulating Mood and Drug-Related Behaviors

# publications[].label
FETAL ALCOHOL EXPOSURE REDUCES CHOLINERGIC NEURON NUMBERS AND BEHAVIORAL FLEXIBILITY IN ADULT MOUSE OFFSPRING

# publications[].label
Low-dose adolescent nicotine and methylphenidate have additive effects on adult behavior and neurochemistry.

# publications[].label
What's Right and Wrong in Preclinical Science: A Matter of Principled Investigation.

# publications[].label
Chronic alcohol drinking persistently suppresses thalamostriatal excitation of cholinergic neurons to impair cognitive flexibility

# publications[].label
Role of the D3 dopamine receptor in nicotine sensitization.

# publications[].label
Effects of enhanced zinc and copper in drinking water on spatial memory and fear conditioning

# publications[].label
Evidence for elevated nicotine-induced structural plasticity in nucleus accumbens of adolescent rats.

# publications[].label
Long-term changes in fear conditioning and anxiety-like behavior following nicotine exposure in adult versus adolescent rats.

# publications[].label
Randomized trial of a physician-based intervention to increase the use of folic acid supplements among women.

# publications[].label
Histone deacetylase 5 limits cocaine reward through cAMP-induced nuclear import.

# publications[].label
HDAC5 and NPAS4 Regulate Cocaine Reward-Environment Associations and Reinstatement of Drug Seeking

# publications[].label
Fragile X mental retardation protein regulates synaptic and behavioral plasticity to repeated cocaine administration.

# publications[].label
A novel method for oral stimulant administration in the neonate rat and similar species.

# publications[].label
The fragile X mental retardation protein promotes adjustments in cocaine self-administration that preserve reinforcement level.

# publications[].label
Assessment of Cocaine-induced Behavioral Sensitization and Conditioned Place Preference in Mice.

# publications[].label
Essential Role for Arc in Cocaine Addiction-Related Behaviors and Synapse Plasticity

# publications[].label
Chronic alcohol drinking persistently suppresses thalamostriatal excitation of cholinergic neurons to impair cognitive flexibility.

# publications[].publisher
American Society for Clinical Investigation

# publications[].label
DRUG-INDUCED SYNAPTIC PLASTICITY FROM STRIATAL MEDIUM SPINY NEURONS TO CHOLINERGIC INTERNEURONS AND BEHAVIORAL INFLEXIBILITY

# publications[].label
Periadolescent nicotine administration produces enduring changes in dendritic morphology of medium spiny neurons from nucleus accumbens.

# publications[].label
Drug reinforcement impairs cognitive flexibility by inhibiting striatal cholinergic neurons.

# publications[].label
The role of the dorsal striatum in a mouse model for fragile X syndrome: Behavioral and dendritic spine assessment.

# publications[].label
Working around the CLOCK: Cocaine-induced phase shift of NPAS2 and SIRT1 and their roles in directing drug-related behaviour (commentary on Becker-Krail et al., 2021).

# publications[].label
Fragile X mental retardation protein is required for synapse elimination by the activity-dependent transcription factor MEF2.

# publications[].label
Nicotine causes age-dependent changes in gene expression in the adolescent female rat brain.

# publications[].label
FMR1OS, A NOVEL MAMMALIAN-SPECIFIC LONG NON-CODING RNA IS AN ETHANOL TARGET IN EARLY NEURAL DEVELOPMENT

# publications[].label
Elemental mapping and quantitative analysis of Cu, Zn, and Fe in rat brain sections by laser ablation ICP-MS.

# publications[].label
Folic acid use by women receiving routine gynecologic care.

# publications[].label
Drug Reinforcement Impairs Cognitive Flexibility by Inhibiting Striatal Cholinergic Neurons

# publications[].label
The Fragile X Mental Retardation Protein Regulates Striatal Medium Spiny Neuron Synapse Density and Dendritic Spine Morphology.

# publications[].label
HDAC5 and Its Target Gene, Npas4, Function in the Nucleus Accumbens to Regulate Cocaine-Conditioned Behaviors.

# publications[].label
Enhanced zinc consumption causes memory deficits and increased brain levels of zinc.

# publications[].label
The fragile X mental retardation protein promotes adjustments in cocaine self-administration that preserve reinforcement level

# streetAddress
Texas A&M Health Science Center; Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics; 8447 Riverside Parkway