Student Seminar Series
Student seminars will be held in Sanger 2-020 from 12:00-1:00pm
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Aug. 28 (Monday): (postponed) Jyoti Lodha (Neuroscience) (reviewers Damaj/Lasek)
Sep. 11 (Monday): Bryan McKiver (reviewers Jayanthi/Lichtman)
Sep. 18 (Monday): Hannah Robinson (reviewers Bettinger/Schlosburg)
Sep. 25 (Monday): Abby Pondelick (Negus/Whiteaker)
Oct. 2 (Monday): Alaina Jaster (reviewers Miles/Nicholson)
Oct. 9 (Monday): Stanley Cheatham (reviewers Selley/Sim-Selley)
Oct. 16 (Monday): Emma Gnatowski (reviewers Hauser/Wolstenholme)
Oct. 23 (Monday): Jerry Maitland (reviewers Negus/Akbarali)
Oct. 30 (Monday): Mohammed Mustafa (reviewers Brunzell/Banks)
Nov. 6 (Monday): Gabriella Silva (reviewers Miles/Mathies)
Dec. 4 (Monday): Madison Simpson (reviewers González Maeso/Hamilton)
Departmental Seminars
Departmental seminars are held Tuesday at noon in Sanger 1-044 (unless otherwise noted)
August 29, 2023: Dr. Matthew Banks , Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Addiction is an environmental disorder: The role of alternative nondrug reinforcers"
September 5, 2023: Dr. Alaattin Kaya, BIology, VCU
"Multi-omics and -model approaches for drug discovery against aging and age-related diseases"
September 19, 2023: Dr. Zhaohui Feng, Radiation Oncology, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey
"Tumor suppressor p53 and its mutants in cancer metabolism"
September 26, 2023: Dr. Martin Kaczocha, Anesthesiology, Stony Brook University
"Endocannabinoid/eicosanoid crosstalk in acute pain"
October 3, 2023: Dr. Luana Martins de Carvalho, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"RNA alternative splicing mechanisms in Alcohol Use Disorder"
October 10, 2023: Dr. Barbara Sorg, Legacy Research Institute
"TBA"
October 17, 2023: Dr. Amy Lasek, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"TBA"
October 24, 2023: Dr. Alexander Chamessian, Washington University School of Medicine
"Painful Peripheral Neuropathy: Recent Insights into Mechanisms, Diagnostics and Potential Therapies"
October 31, 2023: Dr. Aron Lichtman, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"TBA"
November 28, 2023: Dr. Anna Lee, University of Minnesota School of Medicine
"TBA"
December 5, 2023: Dr. Andrew George, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"TBA"
Past seminars
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Jan. 23 (Monday): Hannah Robinson (reviewers Bettinger/Shlosburg)
Jan. 30 (Monday): Jyoti Lodha (Neuroscience) (reviewers Brunzell/Lasek)
Feb. 6 (Monday): Stanley Cheatham (reviewers Selley/Sim-Selley)
Feb. 13 (Monday): Jordan Dreher (reviewers Lichtman/Damaj)
Feb. 20 (Monday): Emma Gnatowski (Wolstenholme/Javier González Maeso)
Feb. 27 (Monday): Jerry Maitland (reviewers Zhang/Davies)
Mar. 13 (Monday): Mohammed Mustafa (reviewers Negus/Ritter)
Mar. 20 (Monday): Madison Simpson (reviewers Walentiny/Shelton)
Mar. 27 (Monday): Gabriella Silva (reviewers Miles/Lichtman)
Apr. 3 (Monday): Nigeste Carter/Elizabeth Geisler (reviewers Mathies/P.-L. Li)
Apr. 10 (Monday): Diane Ingabire/Lauren Moncayo (reviewers Whiteaker/Nicholson)
Apr. 17 (Monday): Dana Kneisley/Katherine Contreras (reviewers Akbarali/N. Li)
Apr. 24 (Monday): Justin Silverman/Caroline Flagler (reviewers Jayanthi/Banks)
May 1 (Monday): Sayema Bhuiyan/Sanykta Surendra Jalihalkar (Reviewers Hauser/Gewirtz)
January 24, 2023: Dr. Albert Garcia-Romeu, Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
"Psilocybin and related Psychedelics: Potentials as Novel Therapeutics"
February 7, 2023: Dr. Steve Negus, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Preclinical Assessment of Candidate Analgesics using a Novel Assay of Pain-Depressed Behavior in Mice"
February 21, 2023: Dr. Paul Whiteaker, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"The How and Where of Prototoxin Modulation of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Function"
February 28, 2023: Dr. Katherine Nicholson, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Ketamine - the good and the bad, can we dissociate the two?"
March 14, 2023: Dr. Hisashi Harada, Oral and Orofacial Molecular Biology, VCU
"Targeting BCL-2 family-regulated cell death for cancer treatment"
March 21, 2023: (Student-invited speaker) Dr. Marija Kundakovic, Biological Sciences, Fordham University
"Epigenetic regulation of brain and behavior by the estrous cycle"
March 28, 2023: Dr. Chris Bailey, Life Sciences, University of Bath
"Mu-opioid receptors: tolerance and bias"
April 4, 2023: Dr. Christopher McCurdy, Medicinal Chemistry, University of Florida
"Kratom: Gas Station Garbage or the Next Medical Marijuana?"
April 11, 2023: Dr. Victor Ruiz-Velasco, Anesthesiology, College of Medicine, Penn State
"Modulation of the NOP opioid receptor—Ca2+ channel signaling pathway by GRK and RGS proteins in rat sympathetic neurons"
April 25, 2023: Dr. Yuesheng Zhang, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Restore the Tumor-Suppressing Activities of p53 Mutants"
May 2, 2023: Dr. Matthew Banks, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"TBA"
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Aug. 29 (Monday): Emily Brocato (reviewers Selley/Shelton)
Sep. 12 (Monday): Rosamond Goodson (reviewers Walentiny/Bettinger)
Sep. 19 (Monday): Maria Bent (reviewers González Maeso/Mathies)
Sep. 26 (Monday): Donald Jessup (reviewers Davies/Ritter)
Oct. 3 (Monday): Edna Santos (Jayanthi/Sim-Selley)
Oct. 10 (Monday): Yasmin Alkhlaif (reviewers Banks/Brunzell)
Oct. 17 (Monday): Chaoling Chen (reviewers Akbarali/P. Li)
Oct. 24 (Monday): Alaina Jaster (reviewers Miles/Nicholson)
Oct. 31 (Monday): Kennedy Goldsborough (reviewers Mathies/Walentiny)
Nov. 7 (Monday): Kimberly Karin (reviewers Damaj/Wolstenholme)
Nov. 14 (Monday): Harrison Elder (reviewers Schlosburg/Lichtman)
Nov. 28 (Monday): Bryan McKiver (reviewers Hauser/Selley)
Dec 5 (Monday): Abby Pondelick (reviewers Negus/Whiteaker)
August 30, 2022: Dr. Caroline Cobb, Department of Health Psychology, VCU
"Manipulating Electronic Nicotine Delivery System Characteristics To Understand Abuse Liability in the Clinical Lab"
September 6, 2022: Dr. Brandon Henderson, Biomedical Sciences, Marshall University School of Medicine
"Chemical flavorants promote addiction-related behavior by altering neurons key to nicotine reward and reinforcement"
September 13 2022: Dr. David Gewirtz, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Senescence induced by fulvestrant + palbociclib in ER positive breast cancer as a potential therapeutic target"
September 20, 2022: Dr. Sara Jones, Physiology & Pharmacology, Wake Forest University
"Drug-Induced Dopamine Adaptations: A View from the Presynaptic Terminal"
(Zoom) September 27, 2022: Dr. Rita Valentino, Neuroscience and Behavior, National Institute on Drug Abuse
"New Vistas in Addiction Research"
October 4, 2022: Dr. Hamid Akbarali, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"The gut-brain-axis: A key regulator of opioid pharmacology or just a gut feeling?"
POSTPONED: (Zoom) October 11, 2022: (Student-invited speaker) Dr. Marija Kundakovic, Biological Sciences, Fordham University
"Epigenetic regulation of brain and behavior by the estrous cycle"
(note day and location) Thursday October 20, 2022 (Egyptian Building auditorium): Dr. Travis Denton, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Washington State University
"Small molecules of nicotine metabolism as nicotine cessation agents"
November 1, 2022: Dr. Viktor Yarotskyy, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Neuronal CLC-1-like channels: an unlikely novel regulator of excitability and a target for opioids and HIV-1 proteins"
Note: Room is Sanger 3-016 November 29, 2022: Dr. Jeffrey Weiner, Physiology & Pharmacology, Wake Forest University
"Sexual Dimorphism in Rodent Models of Alcohol Dependence and Vulnerability to Alcohol Use Disorder"
Note: Room is Sanger 3-016 December 6, 2022: Dr. Thomas Gamage, Discovery Sciences, RTI International
"Modulation of the Cannabinoid Receptor Type 1: Harnessing Allostery"
(4:00pm) March 1, 2022: Dr. Mac Christie, Pharmacology, University of Sydney
"Opioid receptor signaling bias, intrinsic efficacy and safety"
March 15, 2022: Dr. John Woodward, Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina
"Ethanol Modulation of the Orbitofrontal Cortex: Role of Astrocytes"
March 22 2022: Dr. Catherine Cahill, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, UCLA
"Impact of chronic pain on mesolimbic circuitry"
March 29, 2022: Dr. Andrew George, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Single-Channel to Circuits: The Role of Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptors in Amyloid-Induced Alteration in Neuronal Intrinsic Excitability"
April 5, 2022: Dr. Kevin Harris, Senior Associate Dean for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, School of Medicine, VCU
"Diversity Imperative in Pharmacology and Toxicology: It’s about more than just the numbers"
April 12, 2022: Dr. Keith Shelton, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Rodent models of the abuse-related effects of opioids, stimulants and nicotine e-cigarette aerosols"
April 19, 2022: Dr. Jill Bettinger, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Ethanol-induced state dependent learning in C. elegans"
April 26, 2022: Dr. David Seminowicz, Neural and Pain Sciences, University of Maryland
"Brain imaging biomarkers for diagnosis and treatment of chronic pain"
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Jan. 24 (Monday): Abby Pondelick (reviewers Negus/Whiteaker)
Jan. 31 (Monday): Bryan McKiver (reviewers Banks/Jayanthi)
Feb. 7 (Monday): Hannah Robinson (reviewers Bettinger/Schlosburg)
Feb. 14 (Monday): Jyoti Lodha (Neuroscience) (reviewers Brunzell/Hauser)
Feb. 21 (Monday): Stanley Cheatham (Selley/Sim-Selley)
Feb. 28 (Monday): Emma Gnatowski (reviewers Lichtman/González Maeso)
Mar. 14 (Monday): Jetty Maitland (reviewers Damaj/Davies)
Mar. 21 (Monday): Mohammed Mustafa (reviewers Beardsley/Ritter)
Mar. 28 (Monday): Gabriella Silva (reviewers Miles/Lichtman)
Apr. 4 (Monday): Madison Simpson (reviewers Gewirtz/Shelton)
Apr. 11 (Monday): Sina Abdollahi and Rana Estaleen (reviewers Akbarali/N. Li)
Apr. 18 (Monday): Bridget Kastleberg and Justin Silverman (reviewers P. Li and Mathies)
Apr. 25 (Monday): Tegshjargal Baasansukh and Edward Choi (reviewers Davies/Schlosburg)
May 2 (Monday): Joshua Hunt and Srikethan Mahavadi (reviewers Walentiny/Wolstenholme)
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Aug. 30 (Monday): Emily Brocato (reviewers Selley/Shelton)
Sep. 13 (Monday): Lois Akinola (reviewers Walentiny/Hauser)
Sep. 20 (Monday): Maria Bent (reviewers Schlosburg/Mathies)
Sep. 27 (Monday): Donald Jessup (reviewers Davies/Ritter)
Oct. 4 (Monday): Edna Santos (Jayanthi/Sim-Selley)
Oct. 11 (Monday): Yasmin Alkhlaif (reviewers Banks/Brunzell)
Oct. 18 (Monday): Chaoling Chen (reviewers Akbarali/P-L Li)
Oct. 25 (Monday): Rosamond Goodson (reviewers Beardsley/Bettinger)
Nov. 1 (Monday): Harrison Elder (reviewers Schlosburg/Lichtman)
Nov. 8 (Monday): Kennedy Goldsborough (reviewers Mathies/Walentiny)
Nov. 15 (Monday): Luke Huggins (reviewers Banks/Negus)
Nov. 29 (Monday): Alaina Jaster (reviewers Miles/Nicholson)
Dec. 6 (Monday): Kimberly Karin (reviewers Damaj/Wolstenholme)
(Postponed) September 7, 2021: Dr. Sammanda Ramamoorthy, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Phosphorylation: A Molecular Switch within the Dopamine Transporter Governs Cocaine Reward"
September 14 2021: (Student-choice Speaker) Dr. Thomas Kash, Pharmacology, School of Medicine, University of North Carolina
"Probing Neuromodulatory Regulation of Behavior in Alcohol Use Disorder"
September 21, 2021: Dr. Camron Bryant, Pharmacology & Experimental Therapeutics, School of Medicine, Boston University
"From lemons to lemonade: Embracing genetic and phenotypic drift in rodent substrains for efficient gene mapping of addiction traits"
September 28, 2021: Dr. Christopher Del Negro, Applied Science, College of William & Mary
"Breathing matters: genes, ion channels, and neurons at the core of breathing behavior"
October 12, 2021: Dr. Yuesheng Zhang, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center, Buffalo, NY
"Overcoming Drug Resistance in HER2-Positive Breast Cancer"
October 19, 2021: Dr. Said Sebti, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Discovery of a mutant KRAS addiction transcriptome signature: From computational biology to biomarker-driven clinical trials"
October 26, 2021: Dr. Ningjun Li, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Kidney-targeted siRNA and drug delivery"
(Thursday) November 4, 2021: Dr. Amy Lasek, Psychiatry and Anatomy & Cell Biology, University of Illinois at Chicago
"Discovery of new therapeutic targets for alcohol use disorder: from the extracellular matrix to the nucleus"
November 9, 2021: Dr. Matthew Banks, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Behavioral pharmacology in the era of neuroscience: Can an old dog learn new tricks?"
(Wednesday 1:00pm) December 1, 2021: Dr. Patrick Mulholland, Neuroscience, Medical University of South Carolina
"Chronic Alcohol, Intrinsic Excitability, and Potassium Channels: A Focus on Adaptations and Excessive Drinking"
December 7, 2021: Dr. Jun Wang, Neuroscience & Experimental Therapeutics, Texas A&M University
"Striatal Mechanisms and Interventions of Alcohol and Drug Use Disorder"
Jan. 19 2021: Dr. Joe Ritter, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"The Endocannabinoid System of the Kidney and Sodium Excretion: Blocking the mTAL Na exits"
Jan. 26 2021: Drs. Graeme Henderson and Katy Sutcliffe, School of Physiology, Pharmacology and Neuroscience, University of Bristol, UK
"Why are fentanyls so deadly?"
Feb. 2 2021: Drs. Aaron Janowsky and Randy Torralva, VA Portland Health Care System and Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, Oregon Health & Science University
"Discovering therapeutics that matter in the opioid crisis"
Feb. 9 2021: Dr. Lee Hogarth, Psychiatry, College of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Exeter, UK
"Drug addiction is a disorder of excessive goal-directed drug choice in negative affective states, not automatic cue-reactivity, habit or compulsion"
Mar. 9, 2021: Dr. Jennifer Koblinski, Pathology, VCU
"Technology and animal models that can enhance your research"
Mar. 23, 2021: Dr. Alexander Chesler, National Center for Complementary & Integrative Health, NIH
"Molecules and cells for touch and pain"
Mar. 30, 2021: Dr. Michael Scott, Pharmacology, University of Virginia
"Prefrontal Cortical Control of Feeding Behavior"
Apr. 6. 2021: Dr. Steve Negus, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Controlling Efficacy with Agonist/Antagonist Mixtures"
Apr. 13, 2021: Dr. Javier Gonzalez-Maeso, Physiology & Biophysics, VCU
"Molecular target and mechanism of psychedelics’ effect on depression"
Apr. 20, 2021: Dr. Said Sebti, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Targeting Oncogenic Signal Transduction Pathways: from Basic Science to Biomarker-Driven Clinical Trials"
Apr. 27, 2021: Dr. Bradley Taylor, Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine, University of Pittsburgh
"Spinal Neurobiology of Chronic Pain and Endogenous Analgesic Synergy"
May 4, 2021: Dr. David Reiner, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH
"Neural bases of motivated behaviors: pharmacological, circuit, and cellular mechanisms"
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Jan. 25 (Monday): Yasmin Alkhlaif (reviewers Davies/Brunzell)
Feb. 1 (Monday): Linda Chen (reviewers Lichtman/Damaj)
Feb. 8 (Monday): Harrison Elder (reviewers Miles/Negus)
Feb. 15 (Monday): Kennedy Goldsborough (reviewers Schlosburg/Nicholson)
Feb. 22 (Monday): Luke Huggins (Wolstenholme/Akbarali)
Mar. 1 (Monday): Alaina Jaster (reviewers Sim-Selley/Selley)
Mar. 15 (Monday): Kimberley Karin (reviewers Hauser/Bettinger)
Mar. 22 (Monday): Bryan McKiver (reviewers Banks/Jayanthi)
Mar. 29 (Monday): Abby Pondelick (reviewers Beardlsey/Brunzell)
Apr. 5 (Monday): Hannah Robinson (reviewers Damaj/Lichtman)
Apr. 12 (Monday): Lucas Wohler (reviewers Gewirtz/Miles)
Apr. 19 (Monday): Sina Abdollahi (review. Akbarali/Scoggins) and Rana Estaleen (review. Ningjun Li/Banks)
Apr. 26 (Monday): Sofia Ghani (reviewers Ritter/Mathies) and Bridget Kastelberg (review. Negus/Sim-Selley)
May. 3 (Monday): Maria Bent (Neuroscience) (reviewers Damaj/Negus)
May 6 (Thursday): Jyati Lodha (Neuroscience) (reviewers Schlosburg/Davies)
Sep. 15 2020: Student choice seminar: Dr. Kenzie L. Preston, Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics Research Branch, National Institute on Drug Abuse, NIH
"Transitions to Translation in Opioid and Cocaine Treatment Research"
** note time ** 9:00am Sep. 29 2020: Dr. Markus Heilig, Center on Social and Affective Neuroscience, Biomedical and Clinical Sciences, Linköping University, Sweden
"How we got alcohol addiction wrong: One lever at a time"
Oct. 6 2020: Dr. Subhash Pandey, Department of Psychiatry, Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, University of Illinois at Chicago
"Unraveling the Epigenetic Landscape of Alcohol Use Disorder"
Oct. 13 2020: Dr. David Gewirtz, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Nothing in research is as simple as it might first appear: senolytic agents and chemotherapy-induced senescence in cancer"
Oct. 20 2020: Dr. Darlene Brunzell, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Your brain on butts and other drugs"
Nov. 10 2020: Dr. Michael Miles, Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"DO mice drink alcohol? Using a complex mouse genetic model to identify mechanisms of progressive ethanol consumption"
Nov. 17 2020: Dr. Andrew Ottens, Department of Anatomy & Neurobiology, VCU
"The Circulating Peptidome: A Mediator and Diagnostic Window into Systemic Toxicity"
** note time ** 9:00am Dec. 8 2020: Dr. Serge Ahmed, CNRS / Université de Bordeaux
"Drug choice under and not under the influence"
Date | Presenters
Tuesday February 25: Esad Ulker
"Beyond Reflexive Measures in Pain"
Tuesday March 3: Taylor Ochalek
"Examining sucrose subjective response among individuals with opioid use disorder"
Tuesday March 10: Lesley Schurman
"Aromatase inhibition-induced memory deficit in mice: an endocannabinoid strategy pilot grant"