Our Approach
The basic premise of our lab is to assay the neurobiological maladaptations that occur after ethanol abuse or other damaging events. We then manipulate those effects with pharmacologic interventions and (hopefully) measure improvements in behavior and/or neurodegeneration. Below are a few of the techniques used most commonly in our laboratory.
Molecular Techniques
The lab uses various molecular biology techniques including qRT-PCR, western blots, and genotyping.
Fluorescence Microscopy:
The image above is an example of neuronal retrograde tracing. We are equipped for fluorescence and confocal microscopy.
Immunohistochemistry
The images above are brightfield photomicrographs of Iba-1+ microglia processed with the chromogen DAB. The lab also uses a variety of fluorescent tagging for colabeling studies.
Chemogenetic Manipulations:
Using both transgenic and viral delivery, our lab manipulates GPCR signaling in astrocytes and neuronal populations. (Image coourtesy of Lovic Laboratory, Department of Psychology, University of Calgary)
Neuropharmacologic Manipulation
Our lab is interested in regional and circuit-level neurologic function, so we use site-directed and global pharmacologic manipulations.