Michael F. Miles, M.D., Ph.D.
Professor
Department: Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology
Phone: (804) 827-4054
Fax: (804) 828-6432
Email: michael.miles@vcuhealth.org
Address/Location:
Molecular Medicine Research Building, Room 6036
1220 East Broad Street
Box 980599
Richmond, Virginia
Education
- M.D., Northwestern University, 1983
- Ph.D., Northwestern University, Ph.D., 1982
Research interests
- Director and co-founder, VCU Alcohol Research Center
- Molecular mechanisms underlying role of prefrontal cortex in progressive ethanol consumption
- Role of Gsk3b in ethanol consumption and as a potential target for therapeutic intervention in alcohol use disorder
- Role of myelin-related gene expression in genetic risk for alcohol use disorder and ethanol-related brain or peripheral nerve pathology
- Genetics of ethanol induced analgesia (Co-PI with Imad Damaj)
The laboratory primarily seeks to understand underlying genetic risk factors and adaptive molecular mechanisms of brain plasticity occurring with abuse of alcohol in order to identify new targets for therapeutic intervention. In particular, gene networks are used to identify and study novel genes modulating behavioral responses to ethanol either with acute exposure or chronic consumption. Approaches used include advanced mouse genetics, genomics (RNAseq and microarrays), viral vector stereotactic delivery, cell and region-selective gene targeting, bioinformatics and behavioral pharmacology. We collaborate with colleagues within the VCU Alcohol Research Center (VCU-ARC) or Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology to validate and integrate our findings through behavioral pharmacology and cross-species studies with invertebrate models and human genetics.
Selected publications
1: Tatom Z, Miles MF, Palmer AA. Fifteen years of the Diversity Outbred mouse model: a review. Mamm Genome. 2026 Jan 28;37(1):28. doi: 10.1007/s00335-026-10196-6. PMID: 41606199; PMCID: PMC12852284.
2: Gottlieb S, van der Vaart A, Hassan A, Bledsoe D, Morgan A, O'Rourke B, Rogers WD, Wolstenholme JT, Miles MF. A Selective GSK3β Inhibitor, Tideglusib, Decreases Intermittent Access and Binge Ethanol Self-Administration in C57BL/6J Mice. Addict Biol. 2025 May;30(5):e70044. doi: 10.1111/adb.70044. PMID: 40390305; PMCID: PMC12089657.
3: Rogers WD, Presley A, Damaj MI, Miles MF. Identification of ethanol analgesia quantitative trait loci and candidate genes in BXD recombinant inbred mouse lines. Addict Biol. 2025 Feb;30(2):e70013. doi: 10.1111/adb.70013. PMID: 39996569; PMCID: PMC11851315.
4: Mignogna KM, Tatom Z, Macleod L, Sergi Z, Nguyen A, Michenkova M, Smith ML, Miles MF. Identification of novel genetic loci and candidate genes for progressive ethanol consumption in diversity outbred mice. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024 Nov;49(12):1892-1904. doi: 10.1038/s41386-024-01902-6. Epub 2024 Jun 29. PMID: 38951586; PMCID: PMC11473901.
5: Gnatowski ER, Jurmain JL, Dozmorov MG, Wolstenholme JT, Miles MF. Ninein, a candidate gene for ethanol anxiolysis, shows complex exon-specific expression and alternative splicing differences between C57BL/6J and DBA/2J mice. Front Genet. 2024 Sep 11;15:1455616. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2024.1455616. PMID: 39323865; PMCID: PMC11422218.
6: Rogers WD, Moncayo L, Akbar Z, Cruz M, Dahman AR, Mohiuddin A, Damaj MI, Miles MF. Transcriptomic and network analyses of an alcohol-induced peripheral neuropathy model identify putative role for histone demethylase Jmjd1c. bioRxiv [Preprint]. 2025 Oct 7:2025.10.06.680792. doi: 10.1101/2025.10.06.680792. PMID: 41279904; PMCID: PMC12632415.
7: Smith ML, Mignogna KM, Rokita JL, MacLeod L, Damaj MI, Miles MF. Identification of candidate genes for nicotine withdrawal in C57BL/6J × DBA/2J recombinant inbred mice. Genes Brain Behav. 2023 Apr;22(2):e12844. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12844. Epub 2023 Feb 13. PMID: 36781202; PMCID: PMC10067406.
8: van der Vaart A, Meng X, Bowers MS, Batman AM, Aliev F, Farris SP, Hill JS, Green TA, Dick D; and the COGA Consortium; Wolstenholme JT, Miles MF. Glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta regulates ethanol consumption and is a risk factor for alcohol dependence. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2018 Dec;43(13):2521-2531. doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0202-x. Epub 2018 Sep 6. PMID: 30188517; PMCID: PMC6224501.
9: Weston RM, Schmitt RE, Grotewiel M, Miles MF. Transcriptome analysis of chloride intracellular channel knockdown in Drosophila identifies oxidation-reduction function as possible mechanism of altered sensitivity to ethanol sedation. PLoS One. 2021 Jul 6;16(7):e0246224. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246224. PMID: 34228751; PMCID: PMC8259981.
10: Bogenpohl JW, Weston RM, Foreman TN, Kitchen KE, Miles MF. Chloride intracellular channel 4 (CLIC4) expression profile in the mouse medial prefrontal cortex and its regulation by ethanol. Alcohol Clin Exp Res. 2022 Jan;46(1):29-39. doi: 10.1111/acer.14754. Epub 2021 Dec 9. PMID: 34839533; PMCID: PMC8799520.