Research in his lab has focused on how drugs of abuse affect the neurochemistry of brain.
He has studied how amphetamines and their interaction with stress alterbrain function and produce damage to regions of the brain that are critically involved in controlling movement and memory processes. More specifically, he is interested in how oxidative, mitochondrial, inflammatory and excitatory processes converge to damage the dopamine and serotonin systems in the brain and how antagonism of these processes are mitigate their neurodegenerative effects. His laboratory also demonstrated that stress and the peripheral inflammatory effects of drugs of abuse mediate its neurotoxicity independent of the direct action of methamphetamine on the brain.
Expertise:
- Addiction Research
- Neurodegenerative Disorders Research
