Personnel

Yanabel Grant has worked in the laboratory  as a Senior Research Assistant since 2014. Her work spans all of our behavioral studies in rodents and this has led to authorship on 14 research publications. [Search PubMed]

Sophia  A. (Davis) Vandewater anchored the work of the Taffe Laboratory from 2000-2018. Her work spanned all phases and subjects in the laboratory during this time. This resulted in 41 authorships of published works [Search PubMed]. She was recruited back to the laboratory in 2024. 

Sydney Mehl joined the laboratory  as a Research Assistant in 2025. 

Tyra Coons joined the laboratory as a summer undergraduate intern in 2025.

Tess Doran joined the laboratory as a summer undergraduate intern in 2025.

Sara Rahman joined the laboratory as a post-bacc volunteer in 2025.

CJ Perral joined the laboratory as an undergraduate student in 2024.

Helen Kim joined the laboratory as an undergraduate student in 2024.

Arnold Gutierrez, Ph.D. worked in the Laboratory as a Research Associate from 2018-2024. His work focused on the self-administration of opioids via vapor inhalation and on lasting behavioral consequences of repeated exposure to nicotine or heroin during adolescence. Arnold was awarded the highly competitive UCSD Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2020.  Arnold started his own laboratory as an Assistant Professor in Psychology at the University of Texas, El Paso in 2024. His work in the laboratory resulted in  10 published research articles (9 first-author).  [ Google Scholar ][ORCID]

Jacques D. Nguyen, Ph.D.  worked in the laboratory as a Research Associate from  2015-2022. His work was on the effects of oxycodone self-administration, vapor inhalation delivery of various drugs of abuse and the effects of substituted cathinone stimulants. Jacques was selected as a 2017 Washington Fellow by the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and awarded the prestigious Stephen G. Holtzman Travel Award from CPDD in 2019. Jacques was awarded the K99/R00 Pathways to Independence award in 2019 and started his own lab at Baylor University in 2022. His work in the laboratory resulted in 21 published research articles (11 first-author) and one review. [MyNCBI pubs][ Google Scholar ][ORCID][Nguyen Lab Website]

Eric L. Harvey, Ph.D.  worked in the laboratory as a Research Associate from  2017-2020. His work was focused on cathinone drug self-administration and the analysis of drug distribution following vapor inhalation as compared with parenteral injection routes of administration. His work in the laboratory resulted in 4 published research articles. Eric is a Research Psychologist at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense  [ Search PubMed]

Mehrak Javadi-Paydar, Ph.D.  worked in the laboratory as a Research Associate from  2015-2019. Her work was directed at examining potential sex differences in the responses to vapor inhalation of THC and nicotine as well as in the rewarding effects of psychostimulant drugs. Her work in the laboratory resulted in 6 published research articles (5 first-author). Mehrak is a Staff Research Associate at UCSD.  [ Search PubMed]

Carrie L. Wade, Ph.D. worked briefly in the Laboratory as a research associate from 2014-2015, following a stint in the Koob laboratory. Her work at TSRI focused on the rewarding effects of the prescription analgesics oxycodone.  Carrie is now Head of Scientific Engagement at Phillip Morris International. [Search PubMed] [Linked In]

Shawn M. Aarde, Ph.D. worked in the Laboratory as a Research Associate from 2010 to 2014.  His work  focused on rodent self-administration models with an interest in chronopharmacology, exercise and MDMA. He was also a key contributor to developing an e-cigarette based inhalation model of drug exposure. This work resulted in 13 published research articles (7 first-author) and one solicited review. Shawn is a postdoctoral fellow in the Jentsch laboratory at Binghamton University.  [Search PubMed]

Michelle L. Miller, Ph.D. Michelle worked in the Laboratory as a Research Associate from 2010 to 2013. Her work  focused on the in vivo assessment of a candidate vaccine against methamphetamine, as well as on the effects of acute exposure to cathinone stimulant drugs. This work resulted in 5 published research articles (4 first-author). Michelle is Operations Manager at Scripps Research Translational Institute [Search PubMed]

M. Jerry Wright, Jr, Ph.D. worked in the Laboratory as a Research Associate from 2009 to 2012. His work was dedicated to the behavioral impact of chronic binge alcohol exposure, acute effects of cannabinoid drugs and physiological impacts of cathinone stimulant drugs. This work resulted in 11 published research articles (7 first-author). Jerry is now Toxicology Branch Chief at the US Food and Drug Administration  [Search PubMed] [Linked In]

Rebecca D. Crean, Ph.D. worked in the Laboratory as a Research Associate from 2004 to 2006. Her work focused on the behavioral impact of chronic binge alcohol exposure and thermoregulatory impacts of stimulant drugs. This work resulted in 8 published research articles (3 first-author). Becky is now Executive Director, Clinical Development at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.  [Search PubMed] [Linked In]

Simon N. Katner, Ph.D. worked in the Laboratory as a Research Associate from 2001 to 2005. His work developed  nonhuman primate models of alcohol exposure and examined the behavioral impacts of psychoactive drugs. This work resulted in 8 published research articles (3 first-author) and one review article. Simon is now Assistant Research Professor of Pharmacology & Toxicology at Indiana University. [Search PubMed]

Don Cojuangco  worked in the laboratory as an undergraduate student in 2024-2025.

Nora Alammari joined the laboratory as a STARS student in 2023.

Karim Ghabra joined the laboratory as a MSTP/SURF student in 2023. Karim is currently a graduate student in Bioengineering at UCSD.

Ana Gahng worked in the the laboratory in 2022-2023.

Celine Yang worked in the laboratory as PATHS Scholar  in 2021-2023. 

Rachelle Tran joined the laboratory for a summer research experience in 2019, during her studies at the University of Washington. Her work resulted in one published research article. Rachelle is a Research Lead at PharmaLegacy Laboratories.

Mitch Turner joined the laboratory for a summer research experience in 2019, during his studies at The Colorado College. His work resulted in one published research article. He started graduate studies in Integrative Neuroscience at Dartmouth University in 2024.

Jason Ejimogu, M.D.  joined the laboratory for a summer SURF project in 2018 during his undergraduate studies at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Jason is a general surgery resident at the University of Maryland Baltimore School of Medicine. 

Brent Kisby joined the Laboratory for six months in 2015 as part of an undergraduate externship through Northeastern University. His work resulted in one published research article. Brent is a doctoral student at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in the Department of Pharmacology and Neuroscience [Search Pubmed]

Chris C. Lay joined the laboratory as a summer intern and then returned the following year as a technician, ultimately contributing authorship effort to 6 research publications. He later earned his doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of California, Irvine. Chris is a Founding Partner at Leonid Capital Partners [Search Pubmed]

Courtney Glavis-Bloom joined the laboratory as a summer intern in 2001 during her studies at Yale University. She later earned her doctorate in Neuroscience from Emory University. Her internship in the laboratory resulted in 1 research publication. Courtney is now a Senior Staff Scientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. [Search Pubmed]

K. M. Creehan worked in the laboratory as a Senior Research Assistant from 2010-2022. His work spanned all phases and subjects in the laboratory during this time. This resulted in 27 authorships of published works. [Search PubMed]

P-K Huang worked in the laboratory from 2010-2012, thereafter he started doctoral studies at UCSD in the Department of Cognitive Science. This resulted in 4 research publications including 1 first-author effort. [Search Pubmed]

Glenn Dickinson worked in the laboratory as a technician from 2008-2009. This resulted in 1 research publication.

Chris C. Lay initially joined the laboratory as a summer intern and then returned after graduation as a technician. He later earned his doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of California, Irvine. This resulted in 6 research publications. Chris is a Founding Partner of LEONID finance.  [Search Pubmed] [Linked In]

Stefani Von Huben worked in the laboratory from 2002-2005. This resulted in 6 research publications including 2 first-author efforts. [Search Pubmed]

Amber Kirsten worked in the laboratory from 2000-2005. This resulted in 2 research publications. [Search Pubmed]