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Heather Kimmel. Yerkes.
Phone: 404-727-8581
Email: Heather.Kimmel@emory.edu
Institution: Emory
Location: Off-campus (but accessible via shuttle, e.g., Grady or VA Hospitals)
Availability: Spring,Summer,Fall
Lab Positions: 1
Project Description: Students will use behavioral, neurochemical, and imaging techniques to investigate the mechanism of drugs of abuse in nonhuman primates. Our research goals are two-fold: one is to determine how cocaine exerts its effects and the second is to develop effective medications for treating cocaine abusers.
Student Requirements: Basic biology, chemistry, and psychology courses would be essential. Coursework in psychopharmacology, experimental psychology, and biochemistry would also be extremely helpful. Prior experience in working in a laboratory is not required, but would be helpful.
Accepts 2nd year students? Y
Suggested Reading (References):
(1) Howell LL, Carroll FI, Goodman MM, Votaw JR, Kimmel HL (2007) Effects of combined dopamine and serotonin transporter inhibitors on cocaine self-administration in rhesus monkeys. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 320(2): 757-765
(2) Howell LL, Wilcox KM, Lindsey KP, and Kimmel HL. (2006) Olanzapine-induced suppression of cocaine self-administration in rhesus monkeys. Neuropsychopharmacology 31:585-593.
(3) Kimmel HL, Ginsburg BC, Howell LL. Changes in extracellular dopamine during cocaine self-administration in squirrel monkeys.
Synapse. 2005 Jun 1;56(3):129-34.
(4) Ginsburg BC, Kimmel HL, Carroll FI, Goodman MM, Howell LL. Interaction of cocaine and dopamine transporter inhibitors on behavior and neurochemistry in monkeys. Pharmacol Biochem Behav. 2005 Mar;80(3):481-91
(5) Kimmel HL, OConnor JA, Carroll FI, and Howell LL (2007) Pharmacokinetic considerations of the pharmacokinetic and reinforcing effects of cocaine analogs in squirrel monkeys. Pharmacol Biochem Behav 86(1): 45-54. (DOI:10.1016/j.pbb.2006.12.006)
Techniques used in this lab: Students will learn operant conditioning techniques, such as drug self-administration, which allows us to determine how drugs and environmental changes alter established behaviors. They will also learn in vivo microdialysis, a technique for sampling neurochemicals in a small region of the brain. Neuroimaging techniques (PET and MRI) are also used to determine how drugs reach the brain and how those drugs interact with proteins of interest.
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Frans de Waal. Yerkes Primate Center.
Phone: 7-7898
Email: dewaal@emory.edu
Institution: Emory
Location: Other
Availability: Summer
Lab Positions: 2
Project Description: Projects on social behavior and social cognition of primates. Capuchin monkeys near Emory campus, Yerkes Main Ctr.
Student Requirements: anthro, psych, biol
Accepts 2nd year students? Y
Suggested Reading (References):
(1) See www.emory.edu/LIVING_LINKS
for lots of references to our work.
Techniques used in this lab:
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Teresa Madsen. Neuroscience.
Phone: 770-296-9119
Email: tmadsen@emory.edu
Institution: Emory
Location: Off-campus (but accessible via shuttle, e.g., Grady or VA Hospitals)
Availability: Spring,Summer,Fall
Lab Positions: 1
Project Description: Our lab studies the amygdala, a primary center for emotional learning in the mammalian brain, from as many angles as possible. Other members of the lab do patch clamp recording in rat brain slices and molecular biology, while I do in vivo electrophysiology in freely moving rats. In other words, I implant electrodes into the amygdala and related brain regions, then record and/or stimulate while the rat is relaxed or afraid in order to determine how neural activity changes with emotional state. An undergraduate could assist me with surgery, behavioral training, electrophysiological recording and stimulation, and post-mortem histological analysis to confirm correct electrode placement.
Student Requirements: The student should have taken at least one basic neuroscience or bio-psych course. A junior or senior neuroscience major would be preferable. No previous research experience is necessary.
Important personal qualities include: intellectual curiosity, attention to detail, good communication skills (verbal and written), takes initiative and is self-motivated, comfortable learning new software, interested in a research career.
Techniques used in this lab: stereotaxic neurosurgery for implantation of multi-electrode recording arrays
behavioral training
in vivo electrophysiology
histology
Additional Comments: The PI of the lab is Donald G. Rainnie, Ph.D. I am a 4th year graduate student in the Neuroscience program. Please consult our lab website (http://research.yerkes.emory.edu/Rainnie/index.html) for more information.
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