Michelle Doyle joined the Palmer Lab in July 2022 at a postdoctoral scholar. She received her PhD in neuroscience from UT Health San Antonio where she studied substance use disorder-like phenotypes in rats self-administering stimulants. Michelle will be working on a joint project between Dr. Palmer and Dr. Giordano de Guglielmo studying behavioral genetics of alcohol use disorder in HS rats. In her free time, Michelle enjoys baking and is looking forward to spending time outside, especially at the zoo, with her family.

Welcome, Michelle!

The manuscript, “Cross-ancestry genomic research: time to close the gap”, has been accepted for publication in Neuropsychopharmacology. Dr. Abraham Palmer and Dr. Sandra Sanchez-Roige are authors along with several others.

Congrats!

Dr. Sandra Sanchez-Roige has been promoted to Associate Adjunct Professor. The appointment will begin on 7/1/2022.

Congratulations, Sandra!

Drs Abraham Palmer and Sandra Sanchez-Roige receives a 2022-23 pilot grant award for their research on how age will influence wisdom. This grant will fund the first genetic study of wisdom using a rating scale based on a neurobiological model of wisdom; the proposed wisdom scale (SD-WISE) will assess the genetic signature of wisdom from a population of 500,000 subjects from 23andMe.

Congratulations!

The manuscript, “Genetic characterization of outbred Sprague Dawley rats and utility for genome-wide association studies”, has been accepted for publication in PLOS Genetics. A genome wide association study (GWAS) was performed to characterize the genetic differences of Sprague Dawley (SD) rats sourced from Charles River Laboratories and Harlan Sprague Dawley Inc. Extensive population structure between and within each vendor was revealed. Current Palmer lab members, Dr. Abraham Palmer and Apurva Chitre, are authors. Former Palmer lab members, Dr. Alex Gileta, Celine St. Pierre, Elizabeth V. Joyce, Rachael Maguire, Africa McLeod,

The manuscript, “Accelerating opioid use disorders research by integrating multiple data modalities”, has been accepted for publication in Complex Psychiatry. Dr. Palmer is a co-author along with several others.

Congrats!

Karina Cerda joined the Palmer Lab in April 2022 as a Laboratory Assistant. She finished her Master’s degree in Molecular Ecology and Biotechnology at Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC) in Mexico. Her main research interests involves population genetics and using molecular tools. She is very committed to multidisciplinary projects. She is involved in varying fields from  Government legislation to sample genotyping. Out of the lab, Karina likes to practice martial arts, outdoor activities, and pole dances.

Welcome, Karina!

The manuscript, “Genome-wide association mapping of ethanol sensitivity in the Diversity Outbred mouse population”, has been accepted for publication in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. This study uses Diversity Outbred (DO) mice to map quantitative trait loci associated with ethanol sensitivity and identifies candidate genes from these loci for future functional validation. Drs. Abraham Palmer and Oksana Polesskaya along with several others coauthored this article. See the bioRxiv preprint here.

Congratulations!

Shae Ziegler joined the Palmer Lab in February 2022 as an information systems analyst. She graduated from UCSD in 2021 with a B.S. in Cognitive Science with specialization in Machine Learning and Neural Computation as well as a minor in Business. In her free time she enjoys playing lacrosse, hanging out with dogs, and playing video games.

Welcome, Shae!

The manuscript, “Leptin protects against the development and expression of cocaine addiction-like behavior in heterogeneous stock rats”, has been accepted for publication in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. This study examines the the effect differing bodyweight and blood leptin levels on the vulnerability to addiction like behavior and the impact of exogenous leptin to cocaine seeking in a large heterogenous rat population. Dr. Abraham Palmer and current Palmer lab member, Clara Ortez, are coauthors along with several others. See pre-print here.

Congrats!