Dr. Chen conducts integrative multi-modality molecular imaging in a broad spectrum of imaging-centered topics. Among other projects, he is co-principal investigator with Dr. William Green on a series of studies funded by NIDA on PET imaging of a4b2 nicotinic receptor upregulation and smoking cessation.

Department of Radiology

Dr. de Wit’s research focuses on the physiological, subjective (i.e., mood-altering) and behavioral effects of drugs in healthy human volunteers. Current projects in her laboratory include: i) investigating individual differences in responses to psychoactive drugs, ii) effects of drugs at different phases of the menstrual cycle, and iii) effects of psychedelic drugs on mood and neural function. The studies are designed to improve our understanding of the mechanisms underlying motivated behavior and of the processes underlying drug and alcohol use. Ultimately, we hope that studies such as these will help to identify risk factors for excessive drug use, and to predict and prevent adverse responses to drugs.

My research areas of interest include alcohol response phenotype as a risk factor for future drinking exacerbations and alcohol use disorder, alcohol-smoking interactions, pharmacotherapy and behavioral treatment for alcohol and tobacco use disorders and their co-occurrence, community-based research in underserved populations, and electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) use as smoking cue. I have been a PI on NIH-funded research for over 20 years, published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers, and served in numerous leadership positions for national scientific organizations and locally, including Co-Leader, Cancer Prevention and Control, University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center and past Research Section Chief, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurosciences.

Clinical Addictions Research Laboratory

I investigate the cellular mechanisms underlying nicotine’s rewarding and antinociceptive effects. All drugs of abuse are known to enhance dopamine release from midbrain reward centers and this is a crucial step in the reinforcement of drug-taking behavior. I am specifically investigating the cellular mechanisms that contribute to this change in dopamine output. Most addictive drugs display significant analgesic profiles and our studies are also exploring the influence of nAChRs in pain control circuitry.

McGehee Lab

John Schneider MD, MPH is a network epidemiologist and interventionist who examines substance use disorder among most vulnerable populations including those with criminal justice involvement.  He focuses on the social and structural factors that create a context of substance use, mental health problems and infectious disease transmission like HIV and STIs.  He lead a NIDA analytic Center to develop advanced methods to better understand opioid overdose prevention among criminal justice involved populations with a particular interest in Black/African American community members.

Public Health Sciences

The capacity to acquire, store and recall knowledge of the world through experience and use this knowledge to maximize reward and avoid danger is essential for survival. In humans, this ability is fundamental to our sense of self and is in large part what makes us who we are. The brain’s memory systems are also vulnerable to disease and trauma, such as Alzheimer’s disease and post-traumatic stress disorder, and are also greatly impacted by addiction.

My lab uses a combination of approaches to measure the activity of large populations of neurons, dendrites and axons in the hippocampus, which is known to be critical for memory function in both mice and humans, while mice experience virtual environments and are forming or recalling specific memories. We can also use light to control the activity of particular neurons or circuits, giving us a way to control the neural representations and circuits involved in memory.

Together, our aim is to reveal the features of neural function at the level of populations of neurons and brain-wide circuits down to the level of synapses, that allow for the formation and recall of specific memories, and in this way, we hope to provide insight into how these memory systems are altered during addiction and disease.

Department of Neurobiology