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BIDDEFORD, Maine

Students in Stevenson Lab publish in prestigious pharmacology journal

L-R: Glenn Stevenson, Emily Payne, Rebecca Brackin, Kylee Harrington, Philomena Richard, Sarah Couture
L-R: Glenn Stevenson, Emily Payne, Rebecca Brackin, Kylee Harrington, Philomena Richard, Sarah Couture

Students in the laboratory of Glenn Stevenson, Ph.D., associate professor in the Department of Psychology, in collaboration with Kenner Rice, Ph.D., director, Drug Design and Synthesis, Molecular Targets/Medications Branch at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), published an original research paper in the prestigious journal Psychopharmacology on in vivo delta/mu opioid receptor interactions using operant conditioning assays to determine optimum therapeutic index.

The research project was performed by a number of current and former Stevenson Laboratory College of Arts and Sciences (CAS) undergraduates. CAS alum Katherine Cone 鈥15 (COM, 鈥20) was first author on the publication. Additional student co-authors included, Janell Lanpher 鈥17 (Psychology), Abigail Kinens 鈥17 (Psychology), Philomena Richard (Neuroscience, 鈥18), Sarah Couture (Neuroscience, 鈥18), Rebecca Brackin (Medical Biology and Neuroscience 鈥19), Emily Payne (Medical Biology, 鈥19) and Kylee Harrington (Neuroscience, 鈥20).

This paper is the first publication in the literature to characterize in vivo delta + mu opioid receptor interactions using methods of pain-depressed behavior that are thought to be more relevant to veterinary and clinical populations. These strategies of utilizing high-efficacy mu receptor and delta receptor compounds in fixed-ratio combinations, allows for determination of optimal receptor activation to produce enhanced pain relief with attenuated side effects.

Says Stevenson: 鈥淚 am so proud of the high level of work performed by my undergraduate students and alumni. It is extremely rare to see undergraduates publish in journals of this caliber. Most importantly though, this publication is clear evidence of the high-quality work 51品茶undergraduates are doing in our laboratories, and these deep learning experiences should benefit them as they seek positions in masters-level and doctoral-level programs.鈥

Funding for the research was provided by a National Institutes of Health.

To learn more about the College of Arts and Sciences, visit www.une.edu/cas

 

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