Areas of Research
My primary research interests involve the use of animal models to focus on the question of why some individuals are more vulnerable to the effects of drugs of abuse than are others. I utilize behavioral and neurochemicals techniques to study the effects of drugs of abuse on rodents. I frequently study these effects in different strains of mice that differ in their behavioral response to drugs of abuse in an attempt to elucidate neurochemical factors that may subserve an individual’s vulnerability the effects of drugs of abuse and, potentially, vulnerability to develop an addictive disease.
I have taught courses in the Psychology curriculum at Hunter College since 2007.