The 23rd Annual Meeting of the Complex Trait Community (CTC) was held November 8 to 12, 2026 at the Roux Institute at Northeastern University in collaboration with the Rat Genomics Community.

Palmer Lab members Dr. Palmer, Dr. Oksana Polesskaya, Dr. Thiago Sanches, Dr. Montana Lara, Dr. Zachary Tatom, Denghui Chen, Apurva Chitre, and Jonah Pacis attended in person.

Dr. Palmer was invited to give a talk for the Molecular Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (MPET) Seminar Series at the Mayo Clinic on November 6, 2026.

Dr. Palmer’s talk, “Genetic approaches to substance use disorders 
in humans and rats” was hosted by Dr. Nobu Suto.

The manuscript titled “Genetically predicted cocaine addiction vulnerability is associated with elevated GABAergic transmission in the central amygdala of drug-naïve rats” was accepted for publication in Neuropharmacology.

Authors include current Palmer Lab members Ben Johnson and Abraham Palmer.

Congratulations!

The manuscript titled “Identification of novel candidate hypothalamic genes for diet-induced obesity in outbred heterogeneous stock rats” was accepted for publication in Genes & Nutrition.

Authors include current Palmer Lab members Ben Johnson, Gracie Ang, Oksana Polesskaya, and Abraham Palmer.

Congratulations!

Dr. Montana Lara attended the annual meeting for the American Society of Human Genetics (ASHG) held in Montreal, Canada from October 20-24, 2026.

During the meeting, Montana moderated the symposium “Translational Models for Substance Use Disorders,” and presented the poster “A data-driven framework for identifying heritable dimensions of complex choice behavior.”

The manuscript titled “Sex-Specific Genetic Architecture and Comorbidities of Alcohol Use Behaviors” was accepted for publication in Neuropsychopharmacology.

Arya Massarat joined the Palmer Lab in September 2026 as a Postdoctoral Scholar.

Welcome, Arya!

The manuscript titled “Genomic structural equation modeling of impulsivity and risk-taking traits reveals three latent factors associated with brain structure and development” was accepted for publication in Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and Neuroimaging.

The manuscript titled “Genetic Loci Influencing Sex-Specific Social Reinforcement in Heterogeneous Stock Rats” was accepted for publication in Genes, Brain and Behavior.

Authors include current Palmer Lab members Thiago Sanches, Apurva Chitre, Ben Johnson, Gracie Ang, Oksana Polesskaya, and Abraham Palmer.

Congratulations!

Jonah Pacis began a rotation in the Palmer Lab in Spring 2026, and he has now been advanced to full lab member!

Congratulations, Jonah!