MD, Chongqing Medical College, China
PhD, Wayne State University School of Medicine
Neurophysiology of drugs of abuse, neuropathogenesis of HIV and the comorbidity of drug addiction and neuroAIDS; cellular/molecular mechanisms that underlie neuroAIDS and cocaine/methamphetamine addiction; interactions between refrontal cortical/striatal neurons and astrocytes, with or without influences of drugs of abuse, HIV and aging; approaches are electrophysiology, qRT-PCR, immunohistochemistry, protein/mRNA analysis
I am a faculty member of the Department of Microbial Pathogens and Immunity in Rush University Medical Center at Chicago, IL. I have been a neuroscientist for more than 30 years. My research mainly focuses on determine the impact of drugs of abuse, HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders (HAND; a.k.a. neuroAIDS or neuroHIV) and Alzheimer’s disease (AD), on the brain regions that are key regulators of neurocognition, either with or without the influence of aging. To date, I have published 63 peer-reviewed scientific articles, and have 2 more manuscripts currently under reviewing, plus 10 invited book chapters.
2012: Travel Award for the Asian American/Pacific Islander Researchers and Scholars. Workshop of NIDA: “Tobacco Smoking, HIV/AIDS and Cancer in Health Disparity Populations”.
2006: Distinguished Research Scholarship Award, from the Spring Sunshine Program sponsored by the International Exchange Office, the Ministry of Education of China.
1989-1992: Travel Award for Outstanding Graduate Study, by Wayne State University School of Medicine.
My research is currently funded by the following NIH agencies:
· Title: Impact of cocaine, HIV and aging on calcium regulation of cortical neurons.
7/20/2017 (scheduled), 10th Global Summit on Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology. Chicago, IL.
· Title: Cocaine and NeuroHIV-Induced Calcium Dysregulation in the Reward Pathway.
3/23/2016, Dept. of Bioengineering, State University of New York, Stony Brook, NY.
· Title: Acute exposure to methamphetamine decreases activity of K2P and voltage-gated K+ channels in astrocytes.
6/6/2015, 13th International Symposium on NeuroVirology. San Diego, CA.
· Title: The HIV-1 Transgenic Rat: A Rodent Model of NeuroHIV for Pathophysiology Research.
3/24/2015, NeuroHIV and Alcohol Abuse Meeting, Miami, FL.
· Title: Hyper-excitation of cortical neurons with cocaine and HIV exposure: over-activation of L-type Ca2+ channels, independent of NMDA receptor.
3/27/2015, Dept. of Pharmacology, Nebraska University Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska.
· Title: Repeated cocaine exposure enhances HIV-1 Tat-induced cortical excitability via over-activation of L-type Ca2+ channels.
7/12/2012, The Asian American/Pacific Islander Researchers and Scholars Workshop of NIDA: Tobacco Smoking, HIV/AIDS and Cancer in Health Disparity Populations, University of North Texas Health Science Center, Fort Worth, Texas.
· Title: Pathophysiological Effects of Cocaine And HIV-1 Protein Tat on Cortical Neurons
9/24/2011, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, the 4th Military Medical Univ., Xi’An, China.
· Title: Dysregulated Ca2+ homeostasis in the reward pathway after cocaine withdrawal.
04/10/2009, Dept. of Psychiatry, the University of Chicago, Hyde Park, IL, USA.
· Title: Cocaine-induced dysregulation of Ca2+ homeostasis in the reward pathway.
04/3/2009, Dept. of Physiology, Northwestern University School of Medicine, Chicago, IL.
· Title: Cocaine disturbs dopamine D2R modulation of Ca2+ homeostasis in the nucleus accumbens.
10/16/2008, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Tangdu Hospital, the Forth Military Medical University, Xi’An, China.
· Title: Cocaine disturbs dopamine D2R modulation of Ca2+ homeostasis in the nucleus accumbens.
10/15/2008, Forensic & Genomics Institute, Xi’An Jaotong Univ. School of Medicine, Xi’An, China.
· Title: Maladaptations of dopamine D2R-modulated neuronal function in the nucleus accumbens after repeated cocaine exposure and withdrawal.
10/11/2008, International Symposium on Drug Addiction: Mechanisms & Therapeutic Approaches, Kunming, China.
· Title: Altered intrinsic excitability: neuroadaptations in voltage-gated ion channel function & signaling during cocaine withdrawal.
11/5/2007, NIDA-2007 Drug Addiction Symposium 7 Society for Neurosci., San Diego, CA.
· Title: Cocaine-induced neuroadaptation in ion channels & signaling: dysregulation of reward pathway.
10/12/2007, Dept. of Physiology & Biophysics, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI
· Title: Cocaine-induced adaptations in ion channels & signaling: dysregulation of the reward pathway.
10/4/2007, Rush University Medical Center, Chicago, IL, USA.
· Title: Cocaine-induced neuroadaptations in ion channel function and signaling: Alterations in the nucleus accumbens and the medial prefrontal cortex.
04/10/2007, Dept. of Neurobiology and Physiology, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.
· Title: Mandatory rehabilitation and voluntary “accumbenotomy” for treatment of heroin addicts: current approaches in China.
12/9/2006, Medical Grand Rounds at Rosalind Franklin Univ. of Medicine and Science, North Chicago, IL, USA.
· Title: Cocaine-induced neuroadaptations in ion channel activity in the reward pathway.
6/5/2006, Dept. of Neurosurgery, Institute of Functional Brain Disease, Tangdu Hospital, Xi’An, China.
· Title: Altered ion channel function and signaling in the reward pathway of cocaine-withdrawn rats.
3/16/2006, Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratories, Long Island, NY.
· Title: Cocaine-induced neuroadaptations in the medial prefrontal cortex: correlation with the withdrawal effects of psychostimulants.
01/27/2006, the 39th Annual Winter Conference on Brain Research, Steamboat Springs, CO.
· Title: Chronic Cocaine-Induced INa Reduction: Altered Dopamine D2R Modulation and Ca2+ Signaling.
02/25/2004, 16th Winter Conference on Neural Plasticity, West Indies, St. Lucia.
· Title: Neurophysiology of Cocaine Abuse: the Alterations Beyond Receptors.
6/6/2001, 6th Chinese National Conference of Drug Dependence Res., Fujian, China.
· Title: Neurophysiology of Cocaine Abuse: What Happened in the Mesocorticolimbic DASystem.
6/1/2001, National Institute of Drug Dependence of China, Beijing Univ. Med School, Beijing, China.
· Title: Neurophysiology of Behavioral Sensitization in the Mesocorticolimbic Dopamine System.
3/5/1998, Eli Lilly & Company, Neuroscience Res. Division, Indianapolis, Indiana, USA.
· Title: Neurophysiology of Behavioral Sensitization in the Mesocorticolimbic Dopamine System.
1/29/1998, Dept. of Physiology, Finch Univ. of Health Sci./CMS, North Chicago, IL, USA.
· Title: Neurophysiology of Behavioral Sensitization in the Mesocorticolimbic Dopamine System.
9/17/1997, Schering-Plough Research Institute, New Jersey, USA.
· Title: Neurophysiology of Behavioral Sensitization in the Mesocorticolimbic Dopamine System.
8/12/1997, the FASEB Summer Conference: The Role of Neural and Behavioral Plasticity in Chronic Drug Abuse, Cooper Mountain, Colorado, USA.
· Title: Neurophysiology of Behavioral Sensitization: Dopamine, Glutamate & Non-Synaptic Plasticity.
5/18/1996, the Sixth International Meeting of the European Behavioral Pharmacology Society, Forte Village, Cagliari, Italy.
· Title: Electrophysiological Correlation of Behavioral Sensitization: The Altered Nucleus Accumbens.
5/8/1995, Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Division of Neurobiology and Behavior Research, University of Mississippi Medical Center, Jackson, MS, USA.
· Title: Dopamine/Glutamate Interactions in the Rat Nucleus Accumbens.
7/25/1993, Dept. of Psychiatry, University of California at Los Angeles, CA, USA.