|
|
 |
Florida Faculty and Professional Staff
Paul Kenny
Associate Professor
Department of Molecular Therapeutics
TSRI - 2000
Education
B.A., Biochemistry, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.
Ph.D., Neuropsychopharmacology, King's College London, UK.
Research Associate, Department of Neuropharmacology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California.
Awards & Activities
Post-Doctoral Fellowship Award (2001-2003), The Peter F. McManus Charitable Trust
Young Scientist Travel Award (2001) International Society for Neurochemistry
Early Career Investigator Award (2004), The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDAACNP Young Investigator Travel Award (2004), American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP).
Young Investigator Award (2004-2006), National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (NARSAD).
Research Focus
Research in our laboratory is focused on understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders such as drug addiction, depression and anxiety, with a particular emphasis on the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs) in these processes. We employ a multidisciplinary approach that includes complex behavioral paradigms, physiological analyses, and molecular biological techniques. Current projects include the utilization of vector-based delivery of short-interfering RNAs (siRNA) into the brains of rodents to identify novel signaling cascades that may play a role in addiction-like behaviors.
Selected References
Ahmed S*, Kenny PJ*, Koob GF, Markou A (2002) Neurobiological evidence for hedonic allostasis associated with escalating cocaine use. Nature Neuroscience 5:625-626. (*Denotes equal contribution).
Kenny PJ, Markou A (2004) The ups and downs of addiction: role of metabotropic glutamate receptors. Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 25:265-272.
Kenny PJ, Markou A (2005) Conditioned nicotine withdrawal profoundly decreases the activity of brain reward systems. Journal of Neuroscience 25:6208-6212
Boutrel B, Kenny PJ, Specio SE, Martin-Fardon R, Markou A, Koob GF, de Lecea L(2005) Role for hypocretin in mediating stress-induced reinstatement of cocaine-seeking behavior. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, USA 102:19168-19173.
|
|
|
|
