Our Research

Addiction is a chronic, relapsing disease characterized by compulsive drug-taking and the inability to stop despite negative consequences. Underlying the behavioral progression of the disease are changes in gene expression that are regulated in a cell-type specific fashion. Owing to the rich cell heterogeneity in the brain, understanding how gene expression is regulated throughout the course of addiction in specific cell populations remains both a technical and conceptual challenge for our field.

To this end, our team focuses on understanding the addicted brain by tailoring molecular profiling methods and bioinformatics approaches to ask how transcription is regulated within genetically-defined cell populations in the brain reward system, with special emphasis on dopamine neurons and microglia. Combined with mouse models of drug addiction (IV self-administration), we work to identify genetic targets that can regulate different stages of the disease, and ultimately curb drug-taking and prevent relapse in addicted individuals.