Emily Linz, B.S.

Research Interests

Emily joined the Addiction Biology Unit in June 2023. During her undergraduate training at the University of Connecticut, she studied in Dr. John Salamone’s neuropsychopharmacology lab assessing potential therapeutics that attenuate the motivational symptoms of depression. She also participated in neuroscience and pharmacology research for the Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. She is now participating in our research projects aimed at dissecting whether and how GABAergic neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) are involved in the mechanisms of drugs of abuse, as well as assisting in various projects.  In addition, she also participates in several other DAT- and cannabis-based medication development projects in experimental animals. She utilizes and assists with techniques such as conditioned place preference, RNAscope, optogenetics, and intravenous self-administration in rat and mouse models. After her two years of post-bac training at NIDA IRP, she plans to pursue a PhD in neuroscience to further study neuroscience and substance use disorders.