Student Seminar Series
Student seminars will be held in Sanger 2-020 from 12:00-1:00pm
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Feb. 3 (Monday): Samuel Marsh (reviewers Lichtman/Damaj)
Feb. 10 (Monday): Michael Florillo (reviewers Banks/Whiteaker)
Feb. 17 (Monday): Sara Herz (reviewers Brunzell/Negus)
Feb. 24 (Monday): Annalise Hassan (reviewers Lasek/Miles)
Mar. 17 (Monday): Melissa Lewis (reviewers George/Wolstenholme)
Mar. 24 (Monday): Alexia Zylko (reviewers Jayanthi/Mathies)
Mar. 31 (Monday): No seminar
Apr. 7 (Monday): Sami Ali (reviewers Shelton/Nicholson)
Apr. 14 (Monday): Justin Silverman (reviewers Akbarali/Selley)
Apr. 21 (Monday): Maya Gaines-Smith (reviewers Sim-Selley/Yarotskyy)
Apr. 28 (Monday): Ahmed Elshazly (reviewers N. Li/G. Li)
Departmental Seminars
Departmental seminars are held Tuesday at noon in Sanger 1-044 (unless otherwise noted)
February 4, 2025: Dr. Christie Fowler, Neurobiology & Behavior, University of California, Irvine
"The Missing Lynx: Cholinergic Modulators at the Intersection of Memory, Anxiety, and Drug Addiction"
February 18, 2025: Dr. Lynette Daws, Cellular & Integrative Physiology, University of Texas Health Sciences Center, San Antonio
"The smoking gun: Organic cation transporter 3 in the actions of amphetamine and alcohol"
February 25, 2025: Dr. Abby Pondelick, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"TRV045: a non-lymphopenic S1PR1-selective ligand for the treatment of neuropathic pain"
March 4, 2025: Dr. Fan Zhang, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"What We Can Learn About Depressive Disorders from Comparing Ketamine and Traditional Treatment Regimens"
March 18, 2025: Dr. Yan Zhang, Medicinal Chemistry, VCU
"Novel PROTACs Targeting FOSL1 Degradation to Eliminate HNSCC Cancer Stem Cells: from a Drug Discovery and Development Perspective"
March 25, 2025: Dr. E. Alfonso Romero-Sandoval, Anesthesiology, Wake Forest University
“Targeting IRE1-XBP: A Potential Biomarker and Pharmacological Therapy for Chemotherapy-Induced Peripheral Neuropathy"
April 1, 2025: Dr. Kristin Pleil, Pharmacology, Weill Cornell Medical College
"Hormonal control of alcohol drinking"
(postponed) April 8, 2025: Dr. David Gewirtz, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Antibody drug conjugates as antitumor drugs: What we know and what we don’t know"
April 15, 2025: Dr. David Linsenbardt, Neurosciences, University of New Mexico
"Impact of Repeated Binge Alcohol Consumption on Nucleus Accumbens Gene Expression and Splicing"
April 22, 2025: Dr. Jill Bettinger, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Lipid regulation of the acute effects of ethanol in C. elegans and humans"
April 29, 2025: Dr. Lankupalle Jayanthi, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"TBA"
Past Seminars
August 27, 2024: Dr. Emmanuel Skordalakes, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Discovery of Cancer Therapeutics Targeting Telomeric Complexes"
September 3, 2024: Dr. Michael Miles, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Mouse Genetic and Genomic Studies Identify Novel Mechanisms for Intervention in Alcohol Use Disorder"
September 10, 2024: Dr. Ming Hu, Pharmacology & Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Houston
"Locally bioavailable flavonoids and polyphenols for alleviating irinotecan-induced severe delayed onset diarrhea"
September 17, 2024: Dr. Carrie Jones, Pharmacology, Vanderbilt University
"Updates on Advancing Selective M4 PAMs to the Clinic for Schizophrenia and Behavioral Disturbances in Alzheimer's Disease in an Academic Drug Discovery Center"
September 24, 2024: Dr. Tiffany Wills, Cell Biology & Anatomy, LSUHSC School of Medicine
"Sex Differences in Adolescent Alcohol-Induced Hyperkatifeia"
October 15, 2024: Dr. Amynah Pradhan, Washington University School of “Delta Opioid Receptor Agonists for the Treatment of Opioid Use Disorder"
October 22, 2024: Dr. Amy Lasek, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Role of astrocyte-expressed STAT3 in alcohol consumption and transcription following chronic alcohol exposure"
October 29, 2024: Dr. J. Michael McIntosh, Psychiatry, University of Utah
"Developing Non-Opioid Medications for Chronic Pain"
November 12, 2024: Dr. Richard Chipkin, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
"Ecopipam: A New Treatment for Tourette’s – A Long Road to Here"
November 19, 2024: Dr. Justine Abais-Battad, Physiology, Augusta University
"Contribution of Diet and Sex to Gut-Immune-Kidney Crosstalk in Hypertension"
December 3, 2024: Dr. Bob Balster, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"International Program in Addiction Studies"
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Aug. 26 (Monday): Stanley Cheatham (reviewers Bettinger/George)
Sep. 9 (Monday): Emma Gnatowski (reviewers Hauser/Davies)
Sep. 16 (Monday): Jerry Maitland (reviewers Akbarali/Lasek)
Sep. 23 (Monday): Lauren Moncayo (reviewers Walentiny/Shelton)
Sep. 30 (Monday): Mohammed Mustafa (reviewers Brunzell/Banks)
Oct. 14 (Monday): Gabriella Silva (reviewers Miles/Mathies)
Oct. 21 (Monday): Nigeste Carter (reviewers Selley/Sim-Selley)
Oct. 28 (Monday): Elizabeth Geisler (reviewers Wolstenholme/González Maeso)
Nov. 4 (Monday): Diane Ingabire (reviewers Zhang/N. Li)
Nov. 11 (Monday): Dana Kneisley (reviewers Jayanthi/Lichtman)
Nov. 18 (Monday): Muruj Alsherhri (reviewers Negus/Schlosburg)
Dec. 9 (Monday): Amber Baldwin (reviewers Damaj/Nicholson)
February 6, 2024: Dr. Shunlin Ren, Internal Medicine, VCU
"Endogenous epigenetic regulator, from discovery to clinical usage"
February 13, 2024: Dr. Tom Bannard, Rams in Recovery, University Counseling, VCU
"Lions and Tigers and Medications, o my! Recovery Community Perspectives on Medications and Emerging Approaches to an Increasingly Complex Issue"
February 20, 2024: Dr. Karan Muchhala, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"The impact of intestinal epithelial barrier disruption on tolerance to morphine-induced antinociception"
February 27, 2024: Dr. Stephen Lewis, Pharmacology, Case Western Reserve University
"Novel thiol-based therapeutics for OIRD and opioid dependence"
March 12, 2024: Dr. Wei Xu, Oncology, University of Wisconsin, Madison
"Protein Arginine Methylation: Mechanisms and Therapeutic Vulnerabilities in Breast Cancer"
March 19, 2024: Dr. Robert Gould, Physiology and Pharmacology, Wake Forest University
"Investigating state-dependent effects of opioids on sleep in rodents"
March 26, 2024: Dr. Margaret Haney, Neurobiology, Columbia University Medical School
"Human Laboratory Studies of Cannabis and Cannabinoids"
April 2, 2024: Dr. Karam Soliman, Pharmaceutical Sciences, Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University
"Novel Use of Flavonoids in Modulating Cell Plasticity and Overcoming Chemoresistance in Triple Negative Breast Cancer"
April 9, 2024: Dr. Kelly Langert, Molecular Pharmacology & Neuroscience, Loyola University, Chicago
"Targeted delivery of statins to inflamed peripheral nerves"
April 23, 2024: Dr. Keith Elmslie, Pharmacology, Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine
"Voltage-gated Ca2+channels: Linking single-channel properties to physiological function"
April 30, 2024: Dr. Said Sebti, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Discovery of KRB-456, a KRAS G12D Switch-I/II Allosteric Pocket Binder That Inhibits the Growth of Pancreatic Cancer Patient-derived Tumors"
Date | Presenters | Faculty reviewers
Jan. 22 (Monday): Lauren Moncayo (reviewers Davies/Gewirtz)
Jan. 29 (Monday): Jetty Maitland (reviewers Negus/Walentiny)
Feb. 5 (Monday): Nigeste Carter (reviewers Banks/N. Li)
Feb. 12 (Monday): Elizabeth Geisler (reviewers Lasek/Whiteaker)
Feb. 19 (Monday): Diane Ingabire (George/Zhang)
Feb. 26 (Monday): Nima Nassehi (reviewers Mathies/Shelton)
Mar. 11 (Monday): Dana Kneisley (reviewers Brunzell/Damaj)
Mar. 18 (Monday): Amber Baldwin (reviewers Miles/Wolstenholme)
Mar. 25 (Monday): Samual Marsh (reviewers Jayanthi/Lichtman)
Apr. 1 (Monday): Sanykta Jalihalkar (reviewers Nicholson/Sim-Selley)
Apr. 8 (Monday): Peter Hong (reviewers Akbarali/Selley)
Apr. 15 (Monday): Deepak Karunakaran (reviewers Hauser/González Maeso)
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
"Perineuronal nets in the prefrontal cortex alter hippocampus-prefrontal synchrony and reshape cocaine memories"
October 17, 2023: Dr. Amy Lasek, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Neuroimmune transcriptional mechanisms in alcohol use disorder"
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
"Monoacylglycerol Lipase: A Potential Target for Pain in Sickle Cell Disease"
November 28, 2023: Dr. Anna Lee, University of Minnesota School of Medicine
"Cholinergic signaling and nicotinic receptors in the dark side of alcohol misuse"
December 5, 2023: Dr. Andrew George, Pharmacology & Toxicology, VCU
"Truncated variants of amyloid-beta differentially alter the single-channel properties of alpha7-containing nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs)"
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)
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)