Presented by Elizabeth J. Crofton, PhD
Assistant Professor of Neuroscience
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience, Emmanuel College

Alcohol use, drug abuse, and substance use disorders represent major clinical conditions in the United States and worldwide, with substantial impacts on social, health, and economic outcomes. Despite the prevalence of these disorders and years of study, the mechanisms underlying addiction are still poorly understood. The major aim of the Crofton laboratory at Emmanuel College in Boston is to investigate the neurobiological and molecular mechanisms of abused drugs by using an animal model that shows individual differences in drug intake, environmental enrichment. Many people drink alcohol but do not develop substance use disorder. Similarly, environmentally enriched female animals drink more alcohol compared to isolated animals.

In this lecture, Crofton will discuss the work of the Crofton lab in its investigation of these behavioral differences as well as co-abuse of alcohol with caffeine and the molecular effects driving these individual differences.

Prior to joining the Psychology and Neuroscience faculty at Emmanuel in 2020, Crofton was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, N.C., in the Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education (SPIRE) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Her postdoctoral research in the laboratories of Melissa A. Herman, PhD, and A. Leslie Morrow, PhD, focused on the neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol at the single-cell level using animal models.

This event, presented by the Department of Biology/Chemistry, is free and open to the Springfield College community and the public. Refreshments will be served at 3:30 PM

If you have a disability and require a reasonable accommodation to fully participate in this event, please contact Kellie Lavoie at klavoie2@springfield.edu to discuss your accessibility needs.