J. David Jentsch, PhD
Professor of Psychology, Program Director
E-mail: jjentsch@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4875
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=jjentsch
Dr. Jentsch’s research focuses on genetic and neurochemical influences on cognitive and executive functions in laboratory animal models and has been supported by research grants from NIMH, NICHD, NIAAA and NIDA. The central focus of his on-going research is on the neurobiological mechanisms contributing to self-control over reward-related behaviors in the context of drug and alcohol addictions. In his work on self-control processes in addictions, he and his trainees use diverse behavioral procedures, multimodal neuroimaging, genetically-tractable model systems (e.g., recombinant inbred mice, pedigreed non-human primates), pharmacological, optogenetic and chemogenetic manipulations, lesions and intracerebral manipulations and systems genetics approaches to identify the biological influences on normal and abnormal self-control functions.
Marvin R. Diaz, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology, Associate Director
E-mail: mdiaz@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4372
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=mdiaz
Dr. Diaz’s research is centered around the neurobiological and neurophysiological adaptations that occur following developmental (e.g., prenatal; adolescent) alcohol exposure that underlie anxiety-like behaviors and drug-/alcohol-seeking behaviors. The primary techniques employed in Dr. Diaz’s lab include slice electrophysiology (extracellular and whole-cell), optogenetics, intracerebral manipulations (pharmacological), biochemical assays (western and immunohistochemical) and behavioral testing to understand brain region-specific alterations that result from developmental alcohol exposures. Dr. Diaz serves as a research mentor for undergraduates and graduate students and postdoctoral fellows that are involved and/or associated with the psychology and integrative neuroscience programs.
Terrence Deak, PhD
Professor of Psychology, Executive Committee
E-mail: tdeak@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-5918
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=tdeak
Dr. Deak’s research program examines neuroimmune signaling pathways as a common process underlying the consequences of stress, alcohol and aging. In recent years, his work has taken a decidedly developmental angle, with current projects funded on both early developmental epochs (NIAAA) and also late aging (NIA) providing a full life-span perspective on behavioral processes and neuroendocrine function.
Lisa Savage, PhD
Professor of Psychology, Executive Committee
E-Mail: lsavage@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4383
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=lsavage
Dr. Savage’s research program (funded by the NSF, NINDS, NIAAA) elucidates the type and degree of circuit level dysfunction that occurs as a function of different alcohol exposures and diet. Her work not only focuses on understanding how different alcohol related pathologies lead to distinctive cognitive impairments, but also on how behavioral dysfunction can be recovered by pharmacological and environmental manipulations. The laboratory is currently using viral tracers and chemogenetics to answer questions about how the brain remaps following alcohol-related brain damage.
Brandon E. Gibb, PhD
Professor of Psychology
E-mail: bgibb@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-2511
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=bgibb
Dr. Gibb’s research focuses on cognitive, genetic, and environmental risk factors for the development of depression and anxiety in children, adolescents, and adults. His research area is particularly focused on examining how multiple levels of analysis work together to increase risk, spanning genetic and epigenetic influences, physiology, cognition, affect, and environmental influences. Dr. Gibb has substantial experience in mentoring trainees at a variety of stages of their careers.
Anushree Karkhanis, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
E-Mail: akarkhan@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4876
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=akarkhan
Dr. Karkhanis’ research program (funded by NIAAA) elucidates the impact of stress and drug exposure during adolescence on neural substrates involved in shaping neuropsychiatric and addictive disorders in adulthood. Her research program uses interdisciplinary experimental approaches (such as fiber photometry, voltammetry, optogenetics, chemogenetics, and behavior) to understand the neurobiology of addiction and dissect circuits involved in drug taking and seeking behaviors.
Nadine R. Mastroleo, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology
E-mail: nmastrol@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4369
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=nmastrol
Dr. Mastroleo, Associate Professor of Psychology, Clinical Science completed her PhD in counselor education and supervision from The Pennsylvania State University in 2008. She completed her postdoctoral training at Brown University and the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. Mastroleo was an assistant professor (research) at Brown University in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences from 2010-2015. Mastroleo's primary area of research focus is on evaluating brief alcohol interventions with college students and individuals who drink heavily. Specifically, she examines the within-session behaviors of brief motivational interventions to study the mechanisms of behavior change. Mastroleo is also working on the implementation of brief, behavioral interventions with student-athletes and developing and testing an evidence-based intervention approach to reduce alcohol use and post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms among veterans. Her research interests include behavioral interventions, brief motivational interventions, substance abuse, college student drinking and PTSD and alcohol use.
Florence Varodayan, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
E-mail: fvaroday@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-4327
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=fvaroday
Dr. Varodayan’s research program (funded by NIAAA and the SUNY Empire Innovation Program) is focused on neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol-induced cognitive dysfunction, with the aim of identifying novel therapeutic approaches to improve patient outcomes. Her work is particularly focused the medial prefrontal cortex, as this region plays an important role in mood, motivation and impulsivity, and is dysregulated by chronic alcohol. The laboratory is currently using a multidisciplinary approach - including rodent models of alcohol drinking and dependence, electrophysiology, chemogenetics, molecular biology and behavioral pharmacology – to answer questions about the cortical circuits and synapses that promote excessive alcohol drinking, stress and anxiety.
David Werner, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology
E-mail: dwerner@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-5782
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=dwerner
Dr. Werner’s work focuses on understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying synaptic plasticity leading to alcohol use disorders. Dr. Werner’s lab utilizes a number of approaches to delineate the synaptic mechanisms contributing to the development of alcohol use disorders, including: numerous behavioral analyses; targeted stereotactic modulation; primary neuronal and glial cultures; in vitro and in vivo genetic modifications; real-time RT-PCR, and protein biochemistry, including immunoblot procedures, ELISAs, and chromogenic/fluorescent histological imaging. Dr. Werner is firmly committed to the mentoring and training of graduate students within the program at both the technical and conceptual levels.
Emily L. Zale, PhD
Assistant Professor of Psychology
E-mail: ezale@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-3381
Website: https://sites.google.com/binghamton.edu/zale-lab/home
Dr. Zale's research program is broadly in the areas of health psychology and behavioral medicine, with an emphasis on interrelations between substance use (e.g., nicotine, alcohol) and pain (e.g., chronic pain conditions, acute pain experience). Her work utilizes a translational framework to not only identify potential mechanisms of pain-substance use relations, but also to apply research findings of potentially modifiable treatment targets to the development of novel interventions. Dr. Zale's interdisciplinary research is currently using multiple methods, including laboratory experimental studies of pain reactivity and clinical surveys of key populations to identify putative mediators and moderators of pain and substance use.
Support faculty:
Christopher Bishop, PhD
Professor of Psychology
E-mail: cbishop@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-3410
Website:https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=cbishop
Dr. Bishop has over twenty years of experience in the lab and training students, and has a broad background in pharmacology, neurochemistry and behavior. He provides valuable expertise in neuroadaptations, applying a diverse array of translational approaches to examine Parkinson’s disease-induced brain neuroplasticity and how such compensation informs the detection and treatment of this pervasive neurodegenerative disorder.
Elena Varlinskaya, PhD
Research Professor of Psychology
E-mail: varlinsk@binghamton.edu
Phone: 607-777-7164
Website: https://www.binghamton.edu/psychology/people/profile.html?id=varlinsk
Dr. Varlinskaya has studied age-related differences in ethanol sensitivity for more than 10 years and is a well-recognized expert in research involving animal models of social interactions and social anxiety-like behavior, alcohol- and stress-induced behavioral alterations, and the psychopharmacology of development in animals of both sexes.
