Manuscript published in Bioengineering
Dr. Palmer is a co-author on “Comparison of Deep Learning Tools for Optic Nerve Axon Quantification Finds Limited Generalizability Upon Independent Validation,” which was recently published in Bioengineering.
Dr. Palmer is a co-author on “Comparison of Deep Learning Tools for Optic Nerve Axon Quantification Finds Limited Generalizability Upon Independent Validation,” which was recently published in Bioengineering.
The manuscript titled “Genome-wide association study of cocaine self-administration behavior in Heterogeneous Stock rats” was accepted for publication in Nature Communications.
Authors include current and past* Palmer Lab members Montana Lara, Thiago Sanches, Oksana Polesskaya, Denghui Chen, Riyan Cheng, Apurva Chitre, Benjamin Johnson, Elaine Keung*, Khai Nguyen*, and Abraham Palmer.
Congratulations!
Dr. Palmer gave a talk titled “The surprise appearance of an XY female, characterizing a spontaneous mutation in the HS rat colony” during the monthly Rat Genome meeting organized by Hao Chen (on behalf of the International Rat Omics Consortium (IROC).
…fertile XY females, and XXY and XYY individuals that were part of a multigenerational pedigree…
The manuscript titled “High Incidence of Estrous Cycle Irregularities in Heterogeneous Stock (HS) Rats is Associated with Footshock-Resistant Cocaine Intake” was accepted for publication in Psychopharmacology.
The manuscript titled “Genetic Architecture of Addiction-Relevant Behaviors in Outbred Sprague-Dawley Rats Reveals Loci for Anxiety-Like and Nociceptive Traits” was accepted for publication in Genes, Brain and Behavior.
The manuscript was authored by current and past Palmer Lab members Apurva Chitre, Khai Nguyen, Yizhi Wang, Riyan Cheng, Oksana Polesskaya, and Abraham Palmer
Congratulations!
Dr. Montana Lara received a travel scholarship from the International Mammalian Genome Society (IMGS) to attend the 39th International Mammalian Genome Conference in Reykjavík, Iceland on April 7-10, 2026!
The article titled “Substrain-specific behavioral variation in female C57BL/6 and C57BL/10 mice” was published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
The manuscript was authored by current and past Palmer Lab members Celine L. St. Pierre, Natalia M. Gonzales, Greta Sokoloff, and Oksana Polesskaya.
Congratulations!
Jonah joined the Palmer Lab in March 2026 as a rotation student in the Bioinformatics and Systems Biology PhD program.
Dr. Palmer was invited to give the annual Mark Gold Translational Neuroscience Lecture at Washington University in St. Louis on March 30, 2026.
Dr. Palmer’s talk, “Understanding the polygenic influences on putatively similar behaviors in humans and rodents” was hosted by Ryan Bogdan, Professor of Psychological & Brain Sciences.
The manuscript titled “Novel Candidate Genes for Vestibular Function Identified Through GWAS in the Mouse Hybrid Diversity Panel” was accepted for publication in BMC Genomics.

Professor & Vice Chair for Basic Research,
Department of Psychiatry
University of California San Diego
Director,
NIDA Center of Excellence for Genetics, Genomics, and Epigenetics of Substance Use Disorders in Outbred Rats
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La Jolla, CA 92093-0667
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Email: aap@ucsd.edu
Phone: (858) 534-2093
Twitter: @AbePalmer
UCSD Profile
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PhD, Biomedical Sciences
University of California San Diego, 1999
BA, Biology
University of Chicago, 1992

