Biography:

Ezequiel Marron, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor (Academic Track) in the Department of Pharmacology and a member of the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction. Ezequiel received his Ph.D. in 2008 from the University of Salamanca (Spain) and joined the University of Minnesota in 2013 after doing a postdoc at NIEHS (NIH). Ezequiel studies neuroadaptations that occur in the mesocorticolimbic system after drug exposure and specifically those involving inhibitory signaling regulated by G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) and G protein activated inwardly rectifying potassium (GIRK) channels.

Biography:

Micaela is a fourth year Ph.D. candidate in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota. Prior to joining the GPN, she graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and completed a postbac fellowship at the National Institute on Drug Abuse. As a graduate student, Micaela is co-advised by Dr. Nicola Grissom and Dr. Benjamin Saunders. Her research interests include understanding how distinct dopamine circuits mediate aspects of complex decision making. She also leads the University of Minnesota chapter of End Overdose, which focuses on reducing opioid-related overdose deaths through education, resource distribution, and public awareness.

Biography:

Mark Thomas, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Minnesota and the Director of the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, a new research program funded by the state legislature to fuel cross-disciplinary collaborations and discover new treatment options. He is also the Director for the Center for Neural Circuits in Addiction. His research examines how addictive drugs alter the brain and how these changes can lead to compulsive drug use. His lab is now focusing on ways to disrupt addiction relapse. He conducts optogenetics techniques in the field of addiction as a neuromodulation researcher for MnDRIVE Brain Conditions.

Biography:

Jocelyn Richard, PhD is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience and Associate Director of the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction. She completed her PhD at the University of Michigan where she trained with Dr. Kent Berridge, and completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco with Dr. Howard Fields and at Johns Hopkins University with Dr. Patricia Janak. Her work is focused on the neural mechanisms of reward learning and motivation, and how recruitment or disruption of these mechanisms leads to compulsive drug use, especially in models of alcohol use disorder. 

Biography:

Cristina earned her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Michigan State University and her B.S. in Biology from the University of Puerto Rico at Cayey. As an HHMI Gilliam Postdoctoral Fellow she is co-mentored by Dr. Arif Hamid and Dr. Patrick Rothwell. Her research interests are to investigate molecular mechanisms that contribute to drug use and reward.

Biography:

Rachel Schorn is a 5th year PhD candidate in the Graduate Program in Neuroscience. She is co-advised by Drs. Lucy Vulchanova and Anna Lee. Before grad school, she received a B.S. in Neuroscience and Genetics/ Cell Biology/ Development from the University of Minnesota. Her dissertation focuses on the intersection between alcohol use & pain, specifically investigating the spinal circuitry underlying alcohol-induced hypersensitivity and supraspinal mechanisms mediating delayed recovery from injury following chronic alcohol consumption. 

Biography:

Svetlana “Lana” Yarosh is an Associate Professor in the Computer Science & Engineering Department at the University of Minnesota, and a PI in the GroupLens Research Center. Her research in HCI focuses on embodied interaction in social computing systems, in critical contexts like reducing social isolation, supporting families and kids, and enhancing health peer support. A growing focus of her work is recovery technology, where she partners with people in recovery from substance use disorders to design peer support tools and sensing systems for harm reduction and overdose prevention.