|
|
| |
DIRECTOR'S COMMENTS
When our research team attends meetings, we often convene at the end of day. I always ask “Okay, what did you learn today?”. They grumble. But seriously… isn’t that the objective? Surrender is a highly uneven process; some persist in reporting on room temperatures even after others (my favorites) expound on emerging science. You may wonder why I mention this inspiring tradition; one my trainees will institute in their own labs. (Really?) Afterall, the NEW YEAR dictates we identify new and resurrect previously discarded resolutions. BTW: I love January. I meet a bevy of new people at the gym with no worries of recalling their names. They’re gone on 1/31. That aside, we pursue science because we love LEARNING and hold the belief that GOOD science can improve lives. Quickly we learn that single solutions seldom exist. And if we look closely (i.e., conduct fulsome literature reviews), we see that today’s questions are sometimes simply better dressed versions of old ones (i.e., prior 2017). So, when driving to work, discouraged by the news and current hit music, I began to reminisce about what I had learned/or had refreshed in 2023. A partial list includes: 1) I can’t distinguish when a lasso vs ridge regression should be used. 2) R produces tables that are wholly uninterpretable w/o reformatting. 3) Reliability/reproducibility, enabled by narrow vs broad visions of substance use/misuse, may be differentially valued (despite statements about real-world application). 4) Always have a mentor. 5) WE must ensure that science remains driven by objectivity. 6) When you need a mechanism of action? Throw in mitochondria. 7) Expanded language skills: e.g., “Hey, don’t make me give you the bombastic side-eye. Nutella IS the perfect girl dinner.” 8) MOST importantly, Amazon address lists cannot be directly edited. Attempting to do so results in: a) purchase of unintended gifts & b) distribution of these gifts to current residents who are unknown, but grateful.
Don’t stop, there’s plenty more “learnin’” inside. The Semester is shaping up to be a particularly exciting time for UF CARE. We are sharing in the celebration of the MBI’s 25th anniversary, planning the Annual Symposium, revisiting opportunities for scientific growth, and reliving the holiday social. Finally, let me say THANK YOU for your support in 2023—it’s demonstrated in everything from opening the newsletter, clicking on stories, to making charitable donations to the UF CARE, which I will shamelessly note can be done through the UF CARE website (https://addictionresearch.health.ufl.edu/donation/) or the UF FOUNDATION (https://www.uff.ufl.edu/give-now/?fund_id=021055).
In closing, if a random package in an Amazon box arrives at your doorstep, “You are welcome”. OOOHHH< wait, check out the website updates! Not yet complete, but getting there. Individuals who maintain websites must have super powers.
SJN
|
|
|
| |
MARIETA B. HEATON, PhD
A Grateful Farewell! Dr. Heaton, a long-time leader in addiction science, will take her formal retirement from UF at this Fall's conclusion. Before we let her go, we want to take a few minutes to celebrate her lifetime of academic achievements. Many may be unaware that after completing her training. Dr. Heaton joined the UF Department of Neuroscience, only 4 years into its lifetime, and as its only female faculty member. Over the next ~ 50 years, she built an exceptional career in neuroembryology and established an active basic research program interrogating alcohol’s effects on embryonic neural development. Dr. Heaton has been active in every aspect of academic science, garnering millions of dollars in external funding, serving on NIH and other federal grant review committees, meeting service expectations through department, college and university committees and serving on innumerable graduate student committees. In addition to her accomplishments as a scientist and educator, from 1995-2011, Dr. Heaton served as the Director of our Center, the first center established within the UFCOM (1982). From 2011-2018, she served as its Co-Director and in 2018 was named to the Executive Committee. She has been a staunch advocate of trainee development and has led the review process for trainee awards for at least a decade! It is not an exaggeration to state that her leadership and sustained commitment have been essential to UF CARE’s survival and growth. Dr. Heaton has demonstrated great success as an educator, a scientist, a leader, role model and mentor—we have all benefited from her generosity and there is no doubt that her influence will persist across generations of scientists. MARIETA—THANK YOU!!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
UF CARE 2023 Holiday Social
|
|
|
|
| |
MONTHLY SEMINAR SERIES
|
|
|
| |
See It Again: Watch November's Recorded Seminar
Thank you, Dr. Lewis for a great seminar on November 15th AND thank you to all who were able to attend.
If you couldn’t attend, or want to revisit it, his recorded seminar "Understanding Pain as a Barrier to Recovery from Substance Use Disorders” is on the UF CARE website, linked below.
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
January Seminar
The next UF CARE seminar will be January 17th at 3pm in Communicore (HSC) C1-011. We are excited to welcome Dr. Amanda Elton, Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry in the College of Medicine. Dr. Elton joined UF in July 2022 after completing training at UNC. Her work focuses on the neurocognitive aspects of addiction such as discounting of delayed rewards, response inhibition, sustained attention, and attentional bias towards rewards and drug cues. Dr. Elton's talk is entitled "Early Life Stress and Addiction Vulnerability". You won't want to miss it!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
RECOGNITION AND ACHIEVEMENTS
|
|
|
|
| |
Funding and Awards
Drs. Yan Wang (PHHP, Epidemiology) and Jennifer Hu (MPIs) were awarded a five-year $3.2 million U01 award from the National Cancer Institute (NCI), entitled “Assessing benefits and harms of medical cannabis and cannabinoid use in breast cancer patients during and after treatments”. The project proposes a prospective breast cancer cohort study (50% minorities) to address knowledge gaps and build evidence of the benefits and harms of MCC use during and after cancer treatment.
Mark Britton, PhD student (PHHP, Epidemiology) was awarded an NIAAA-funded F31. The title of his project is "Longitudinal Modeling of Pro-Inflammatory Cytokines, Hazardous Alcohol Use, and Cerebral Metabolites as Predictors of Neurocognitive Change in People with HIV. Dr. Robert Cook serves as his primary mentor along with Dr. Eric Porges.
Sarah Sniffen, PhD candidate (COM, Pharmacology and Therapeutics) received notice that her NIH NRSA has been recommended for funding. The title of her fellowship is "Basolateral Amygdala and Odor Valance Learning". Dr. Dan Wesson serves as her primary mentor.
|
|
|
|
| |
Dan Wesson, PhDChair & Associate Professor, Pharmacology & Therapeutics, COM
Dr. Dan Wesson co-chaired a workshop at the NIH on sensory dysfunction in aging and neurodegerative disease. The workshop was sponsored by the NIA, NINDS, and NIDCD. The workshop focused on sensation and perception influence our intake of substances, which can be different depending upon age and disease.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Sara Jo Nixon, PhDDistinguished Professor, Department of Psychiatry, COM
Dr. Sara Jo Nixon and her research collaborators in IFAS and the Arts in Sciences Program were awarded the 2023 Charles A. Lewis Excellence in Research Award from the American Horticultural Therapy Association (AHTA). For their research study paper in PLoS ONE in 2022 entitled: “A pilot randomized controlled trial of group-based indoor gardening and art activities."
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Fall Travel Awardees
Congratulations to the four Affiliate Members selected to receive UF CARE travel awards for Fall 2023:
Harrison Blount (CLAS, Psychology, Primary Mentor: Dr. Marek Schwendt): SfN
Katherine Driver (CLAS, Psychology, Primary Mentor: Dr. Marek Schwendt): SfN
Natalie Johnson (COM, Pharmacology and Therapeutics, Primary Mentor: Dr. Dan Wesson): Winter Conference on Brain Research
Cassidy Jones-Goucher (CLAS, Psychology, Primary Mentor: Dr. Lori Knackstedt): SfN
|
|
|
|
| |
Natalie Johnson
Natalie Johnson (PhD Candidate in COM, Pharmacology and Therapeutics) has accepted a tenure-track assistant professor position in the department of Biology at West Chester University in Pennsylvania. Upon starting in August 2024, she is eager to begin her career as an academic scientist. Her primary mentor is Dr. Dan Wesson. Congratulations, Natalie!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Courtney Wilkinson, MS
Congratulations to Courtney Wilkinson (PhD Candidate in CLAS, Psychology) who successfully defended her dissertation proposal. Her primary mentor is Dr. Lori Knackstedt and her committee members are Drs. Marek Schwendt, Jesse Dallery, and Barry Setlow.
She was also awarded both the SfN Trainee and Professional Development Award and the NIDA Diversity Scholars Travel Award in support of attendance at the 2023 Society for Neuroscience meeting.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Cassandra Modrak, M.S.
Congratulations also to Cassandra Modorak (PhD Candidate in CLAS, Psychology) who works with Dr. Marek Schwendt. Cassandra received a NIDA Diversity Scholars Travel Award for the Society for Neuroscience conference.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Abigail Masterson, MS
We're delighted to announce that Abigail Masterson (PhD student in HHP, Health Education and Behavior) was selected for a T32 predoctoral fellowship in SHARC. Her primary mentor is Dr. Liana Hone.
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Congratulations to the new affiliate member!
Our staff affiliate members are growing! This month, we welcome:Jonah Neville is a Health Promotion Specialist at GatorWell Health Promotion Services working with Dr. Liana Hone in the Department of Health Education and Behavior. Calista Foo is a Research Assistant and Samuel Torres is a Research Coordinator both working with Dr. Sara Jo Nixon in the Department of Psychiatry. If you are a UF CARE faculty member and are working with outstanding trainees in addiction science, click here to nominate them for affiliate membership. And if you are a UF CARE faculty member working with outstanding staff in addiction sciences, click here to nominate them for staff affiliate membership!
|
|
|
|
|
|
| |
Recent Publications & Presentations
David AT, Sharma V, Bittencourt L, Gurka KK, Perez-Carreño JG, Lopez-Quintero C. Exploring the associations between serious psychological distress and the quantity or frequency of tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis use among pregnant women in the United States. Prev Med. 2023 Nov 9:107770. doi: 10.1016/j.ypmed.2023.107770. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37951544.
Hone, L. S. E. The role and overlap of alcohol prevention in sexual violence prevention: From bench to trench. (2023, September). Invited talk at the 360 Proof webinar of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators and the National Collegiate Athletic Association.
Lopez-Quintero C. Invited panelist to the 2023 NIDA-NIAAA Mini-Convention Frontiers in Addiction Research. November 7-8, 2023. Presented during the Scientific Session I “Using Neuroscience to Inform Prevention Interventions for Substance Use”. Talk title: “Targets for intervention to prevent problematic cannabis use: Exploring the complex relationships between socio-cultural, neurocognitive, and behavioral factors. https://apps1.seiservices.com/nida-niaaa/frontiers/Agenda.aspx
Wilkinson CS, Blount HL, Wu L, Rojas G, Davis SP, Schwendt M, & Knackstedt LA (2023). Voluntary alcohol intake alters the motivation to seek intravenous oxycodone and neuronal activation during the reinstatement of oxycodone and sucrose seeking. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 19174. PMID: 37932476.
Wilkinson CS, Lujan MA, Hales C, Costa KM, Fiore VG, Knackstedt LA, & Kober H (2023). Listening to the data: Computational approaches to addiction and learning. Journal of Neuroscience, 43(45), 7547-7553. doi: https://doi.org/10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1415-23.2023.
Zhang YF, Wu J, Wang Y, Johnson NL, Bhattarai JP, Li G, Wang W, Guevara C, Shoenhard H, Fuccillo MV, Wesson DW, Ma M. Ventral striatal islands of Calleja neurons bidirectionally mediate depression-like behaviors in mice. Nat Commun. 2023 Oct 28;14(1):6887. doi: 10.1038/s41467-023-42662-z. PMID: 37898623; PMCID: PMC10613228.
|
|
|
|
| |
MMJCOR CALL FOR APPLICATIONS
The call for applications is out for pilot studies for the Consortium for Medical Marijuana Clinical Outcomes Research. UF CARE member Dr. Robert Cook serves as the Associate Director of the consortium. The flyer with information about the call can be found here.
Deadlines:
Required Online LOI Submission Deadline: 11:59 PM (EST), Feb 1st, 2024
Invited Full Proposal Submission Deadline 11:59 PM (EST), April 3rd, 2024
|
|
|
| |
Translational Science of Alcohol & HIV Course
See below for information about a course being taught next semester by one of UF CARE's members, Dr. Liana Hone. Dr. Hone also welcomes postdocs and staff who would like to audit.
|
|
|
|
| |
Not yet a member?
If you are a UF Faculty member working in addiction science and would like to join UF CARE, click below for more information about becoming a full member of UF CARE.
|
|
Have news
to share?
Have updates you'd like to be included in the next UF CARE newsletter? Click below to share news about you and/or your affiliate trainees!
|
Stay in touch!
We want to know about and share with others your professional and personal success! If you studied addiction-related research here at UF- please be
sure your contact information is current and keep us in the loop!
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
