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NIDA IRP

National Institute on Drug Abuse - Intramural Research Program

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Veronica A. Alvarez, Ph.D.

Veronica A. Alvarez, Ph.D.

Position

Joint Faculty (with NIAAA), Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch
Senior Investigator, Laboratory on Neurobiology of Compulsive Behaviors (NIAAA)

Contact

5625 Fishers Lane
Room TS-24, MSC 9411
Bethesda, MD 20892

Phone: 301-443-7695

Email: alvarezva@mail.nih.gov

Education

Ph.D. - Neuroscience-University of Buenos Aires - Argentina

Research Interests

Veronica A. Alvarez, Ph.D. is a joint faculty member at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), where she is chief of the Laboratory on Neurobiology of Compulsive Behaviors. Her research is aimed at uncovering the circuits and synaptic mechanisms mediating reward motivated behaviors and compulsive drug use. Specifically, the goal is to better understand how cocaine and ethanol affect synapses and neuronal connectivity to drive the development of compulsive seeking that characterizes individuals suffering from cocaine abuse or alcohol use disorder. Our research focuses on drug actions in the cortico-mesolimbic circuit, with an emphasis on the nucleus accumbens. We combine physiological with behavioral analysis and use cutting-edge approaches, such as in vivo and in vitro optogenetic and chemico-genetic tools, to manipulate the activity of targeted neuronal populations and dissect their role in ethanol and cocaine related behaviors. Our overarching hypothesis is that cocaine and ethanol induce different adaptations on the two distinct subpopulations of medium spiny neurons in the striatum, direct- and indirect-pathway neurons, and that both pathways contribute differently to the psychomotor, rewarding and addictive properties of these drugs of abuse.

  • Laboratory on Neurobiology of Compulsive Behaviors – NIAA

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Organization

  • Organization
  • Faculty
  • Office of the Scientific Director
  • Office of the Clinical Director
  • Administrative Management Branch
  • Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch
  • Cellular and Neurocomputational Systems Branch
  • Molecular Neuropsychiatry Research Branch
  • Neuroimaging Research Branch
  • Behavioral Neuroscience Research Branch
  • Integrative Neuroscience Research Branch
  • Translational Addiction Medicine Branch
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  • National Institute on Drug Abuse
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  • National Institutes of Health
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  • Treatment Information
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  • Careers at NIDA IRP
  • Accessibility
  • Privacy
  • HHS Vulnerability Disclosure
  • Freedom of Information Act
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  • Offsite Links