Stahl Seminar Series

Seminar Topic:

Distinct interneuronal dynamics selectively gate target-specific cortical projections in drug seeking

Drug craving often persists after prolonged abstinence, posing a major challenge in treating substance use disorders. This work identifies a circuit-level mechanism in the vmPFC in which distinct sub-circuits, defined by cell-type-specific interneurons and projection-specific outputs, differentially modulate mesolimbic pathways to drive drug-seeking behavior. Parvalbumin (PV)-positive interneurons show target-specific synaptic remodeling with pyramidal neurons, a process critical for sustaining cocaine seeking after abstinence and offering new insight into substance use disorders.

Byungkook Lim, PhD, earned his PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology with a specialization in Neuroscience from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University and UC Berkeley.

Lim is an award-winning neuroscientist recognized with honors including the Daniel X. Freeman Award for Exceptional Basic Research, the NIH BRAINS Award, the Kavli Innovator Award, and an NSF EAGER Award. His research examines the neural circuit basis of motivation, social behavior, depression, addiction, and Parkinson's disease, with expertise in basal ganglia circuitry, dopamine signaling, optogenetics, electrophysiology, and in vivo imaging.

Speaker:

Byungkook Lim, PhD

Professor of Neurobiology, University of California, San Diego

Seminar Topic:

Addiction: A Disease of Learning and Memory?

Junghyup Suh, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School. He earned his PhD in Neurobiology from Rutgers University and completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Susumu Tonegawa at MIT prior to transitioning to his current position.

His overarching research interest is to advance understanding of the neural principles that underlie cognition and behavior, with a major focus on the brain's stress and reward circuitry and substance abuse. In this context, his research, funded by the NIAAA, employs a combination of circuit manipulation, in vivo electrophysiology and fluorescent calcium imaging techniques in freely behaving mice that are subjected to various behavioral paradigms. The objective is to expand our knowledge on the dynamics of amygdala-oriented neural codes that are correlated with reward/alcohol-related behaviors.

Speaker:

Junghyup Suh, PhD

Assistant Neuroscientist, McLean Hospital

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Seminar Topic:

Systems Biology dissection of stress-related mental disorders

Nikolaos Daskalakis, MD, PhD is the Director of the Neurogenomics and Translational Bioinformatics Laboratory (NG-TBL) at McLean Hospital and an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He is also affiliated with the Broad Institute, MIT CSAIL, and the National Center for PTSD.

He earned his MD with honors from the University of Athens, a PhD in neuropsychopharmacology from Leiden University, and completed post-doctoral fellowships in clinical neuroendocrinology (Leiden University) and systems biology (Icahn School of Medicine). Daskalakis co-leads the Systems Biology working group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium for PTSD and the PsychENCODE PTSD Brainomics Project. He serves as an associate editor for Frontiers and Neurobiology of Stress and has guest-edited for Biological Psychiatry and Brain Sciences.

His lab, NG-TBL, investigates the link between stress and brain function using functional genomics, big data, and machine learning to study the genetics of PTSD and other stress-related disorders. The lab's translational research validates causal genes and risk variants through cell culture and animal models, aiming to uncover new mechanisms and treatments for neuropsychiatric conditions.

Speaker:

Nikolaos Daskalakis, MD, PhD

Director of the Neurogenomics and Translational Bioinformatics Laboratory, McLean Hospital

Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Seminar Topic:

Circuit-Targeted Neuromodulation Across Symptoms and Disorders

Shan Siddiqi, MD, is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and a neuropsychiatrist at Mass General Brigham. He directs psychiatric neuromodulation research at the Center for Brain Circuit Therapeutics, focusing on mapping brain circuits to understand and treat psychiatric disorders. His work has contributed to FDA-cleared interventions, and he leads a national initative to accredit brain stimulation as a subspecialty.

Speaker:

Shan Siddiqi, MD

Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

Neuropsychiatrist, Mass General Brigham

Seminar Topic:

Time and Punishment: How the Brain Encodes Fear

This seminar tackles a clinically critical question: how the brain links the timing of events with aversive outcomes to generate memories for threats, a process that can go awry in disorders like PTSD and anxiety. By leveraging modern neuroscience, coupled with robust behavioral paradigms, this seminar discusses insights into the neural mechanism underlying fear memory formation and adaptation, and discusses potential relevant to human disease.

Andrew Holmes, PhD, was trained in the UK where he received his Bachelor's (Hons) degree in Psychology and his Doctorate in Behavioral Pharmacology. He received postdoctoral training in behavioural neuroscience and behavioral genetics from Dr. Jacki Crawley at the NIMH. He is currently Chief of the Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience. The overarching mission of the Laboratory is to understand the neural basis of cognitive and emotional regulation and how these critical mental processes are mediated by discrete neural circuits and moderated in function by genetic variation and environmental insults including stress and alcohol. 

Speaker:

Andrew Holmes, PhD

Senior Investigator

Laboratory of Behavioral and Genomic Neuroscience, NIAAA

Seminar Topic:

The Amygdala: A Pain Rheostat in the Brain

Speaker:

Yarimar Carrasquillo, PhD

Senior Investigator

National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health

National Institutes of Health

Seminar Topic:

Brain oscillations as key mediators of cognition and emotions, and potential targets in psychiatric conditions

Speaker:

Vikaas Sohal, MD, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry

UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences

Seminar Topic:

GABAergic mechanisms in emotional memory

Speaker:

Roger Clem, PhD

Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry

Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai

Seminar Topic:

Supra-spinal circuits modulate drug-pain interactions

Speaker:

Nicholas W. Gilpin, PhD

Professor of Physiology

Vice Chair of Research in Physiology

Associate Director, Alcohol and Drug Abuse Center of Excellence

LSU Health Department of Physiology