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• Sara and Utsav publish their review on Divergent basolateral amygdala efferents differentially mediate incentive motivation, flexibility and decision-making in Behavioral Brain Research

• Sara receives NOA on her F32!  

• Cassie advances to candidacy!

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• Dan et al, publish study in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, entitled, Basolateral Amygdala to Nucleus Accumbens Communication Differentially Mediates Devaluation Sensitivity of Sign- and Goal-Tracking Rats

• Sara gets single digit score on F32! Crossing fingers for a few months! 

• Cassie joins Calu Lab! 

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• Utsav et al publish study entitled, Role of BNST CRFR1 receptors in incubation of fentanyl seeking

• Dan et al, deposit study on BioRx, entitled, Basolateral amygdala to nucleus accumbens projections differentially mediate flexibility of sign- and goal-tracking rats, currently under peer review

• Lab reopened in mid-June with low density social distancing for independent lab work

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• Sam  receives his F31 NRSA, entitled, "The role of Cannabinoid Receptor-1 in modulating addiction vulnerability"

• Calu Lab research operation closes temporarily due to Covid-19, but we keep in touch daily, and have weekly lab meetings to update one another on new opportunities and challenges of working from home 

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• Sara et al publish study entitled, Effects of limited and extended Pavlovian training on devaluation sensitivity of sign-and goal-tracking rats 

• David and Molly welcome baby Elias to the world

• Sara, Brad and Vanessa welcome baby Matthew to the world

• David leads a panel at Winter Conference on Brain Research on 5HT2A research

•  Welcome to rotating student, Molly Pruitt and Volunteer Hope Nyarady

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• Donna is awarded PECASE (see Maryland: Gogerdchi) 

• Donna presents at Amygdala GRC

• Donna presents at EBPS- European Behavioral Psychopharmacology Society Meeting

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• Sam's paper on Stability of Sucralose Taste Preference published in PLoS One

• Lab members retreat to Annapolis to eat and enjoy beautiful Spring weather together 

 

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• Sam and Helen's paper on the role of CB1 signaling in sign-tracking and conditioned reinforcement published in Psychopharmacology! Collaborating with Joe Cheer's lab:

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• The main lab moves down the hall to spread our wings a bit

• The team welcomes Sara Keefer to the lab. 

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• The team welcomes Dan Kochli to the lab. 

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• Our paper is accepted at Neurobiology of Learning and Memory

• Goodbye to Helen Nasser, now Senior Lecturer for Institute for Social Neuroscience in Heidelberg, Australia

 

 

• The team welcomes Utsav Gyawali and David Martin to the lab. 

• Calu Lab awarded R01 from NIDA to study amygdala circuits underlying individual differences in motivation and flexibility

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• Goodbye to Ellen Lesser and Danielle Lafferty who are now graduate students at University of Washington and Boston College

 

 

• Featured in UMSOM news

• Our collaborative review with Mel Sharpe and Geoffrey Schoenbaum  is published in Frontiers in Psychology

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• Donna Calu awarded Outstanding Young Scientist Award from The Maryland Academy of Sciences and Maryland Science Center

• Calu Lab awarded McKnight Memory and Cognitive Disorders Award

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• Calu Lab awarded NARSAD Young Investigator Award from Brain and Behavior Research Foundation

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• The team welcomes Sam Bacharach to the lab. 

• Calu Lab celebrates website launch by walking the plank! 

• Helen Nasser selected for the inaugural Baltimore Brain Series lectures

 

• Helen Nasser was voted most cheerful postdoc by Program in Neursocience at the annual PIN retreat!    

• Calu Lab team effort culminates in submission of an R01 application. We celebrate with some delicious MD blue crabs!

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• CaluLab is successfully implementing projection-specific in vivo recording in freely moving rats.                

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Conference Schedule

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Recent: 

WCBR 2020, Big Sky, MT

David lead a panel at Winter Conference on Brain Research on advancements in psychedelic research

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Gordon Conference Amygdala in Health and Disease, Easton MA,  2019

Donna, Sara, Dan and Utsav will headed north to present their latest on Amygdala's involvement in individual differences in incentive and flexible behaviors, as well as its role in opiate incubation 

 

Gordon Conference on Cannabinoid Function in the CNS, Catelldefels Spain, 2019

Sam went trans-continental to present his latest work on VTA endocannabinoid signaling in mediating incentive and flexible behaviors in sign and goal-tracking rats

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European Behavioral Pscyhopharmacology Society, Braga-Porto, Portugal

Donna presented Sam's latest on work on VTA endocannabinoid signaling in mediating incentive and flexible behaviors in sign and goal-tracking rats in a panel on Endocannabinoids organized by Stephen Mahler 

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Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, 2019

Sara and Dan headed northwest a bit to present their latest on Amygdala's involvement in individual differences in incentive and flexible behaviors

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WCBR 2019, Aspen CO

Sam presented in a panel and David presented their latest research, slopeside

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IBNS 2018

Donna chaired a panel on Associative mechanisms of adaptive and maladaptive behaviors featuring the work of Mihaela Iordanova, Jacqueline Barker, Hector Bravo and Calu Lab

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WCBR 2018

Donna presented BLA-IC disconnection study in a panel on individual differences

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SfN 2017

Sam Bacharach and Helen Nasser presented posters of their latest work

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Pavlovian 2017

Donna and Sam Bacharach presented posters of their latest work in Calu Lab

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