2025
- A manuscript from former lab member Dr. Eric Mitten (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) entitled “Chronic ethanol exposure in mice evokes pre- and postsynaptic deficits in GABAergic transmission in ventral tegmental area GABA neurons " was accepted for publication in British Journal of Pharmacology.
2024
- Alex Welter has received a Notice of Award for a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) entitled "Elucidating the Mechanisms and Relevance of Cocaine-Induced Plasticity of Inhibitory G Protein Signaling in the Prelimbic Cortex".
- A manuscript from Shirley Luo (Graduate Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics) entitled “Receptor-dependent influence of R7 RGS proteins on neuronal GIRK channel signaling dynamics" was accepted for publication in Progress in Neurobiology.
October
- A manuscript from Shirley Luo (Graduate Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics) entitled “Domain-selective and sex-dependent regulation of learning and memory in mice by GIRK channel activity in CA1 pyramidal neurons of the dorsal hippocampus.” was accepted for publication in Learning and Memory.
July - Dr. Eric Mitten (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) successfully defended they PhD thesis entitled “Spirits in Distress: Converging plasticity of ventral tegmental area gamma amino-butyric acid neurons evoked by chronic ethanol or stress controls anxiety symptomatology”.
- Dr. Shirley Luo (Graduate Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutics) successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Hippocampal inhibitory G protein-gated signaling in cognitive function and Alzheimer’s Disease”; Shirley is continuing her training in the Wickman lab as a postdoctoral associate starting in September.
- A manuscript from Eric Mitten (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) entitled “Stress-induced anxiety-related behavior in mice is driven by enhanced excitability of ventral tegmental area GABA neurons.” was accepted for publication in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience.
2023
- A manuscript from Dr. Ezequiel Marron entitled “Ethanol-Induced Suppression of G Protein-Gated Inwardly Rectifying K+-Dependent Signaling in the Basal Amygdala” was accepted for publication in Biological Psychiatry.
August
- A manuscript from former lab member Dr. Margot DeBaker (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) entitled “RGS6 negatively regulates inhibitory G protein signaling in dopamine neurons and positively regulates binge-like alcohol consumption in mice” was accepted for publication in British Journal in Pharmacology.
April
- A manuscript from former lab member Dr. Tim Rose (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) entitled “GIRK channel activity in prelimbic pyramidal neurons regulates the extinction of cocaine conditioned place preference in male mice” was accepted for publication in Addiction Biology.
2022
- A review from Shirley Luo (Graduate Program in Molecular Pharmacology and Therapeutis) entitled “Neuronal G protein-gated K+ channels” was accepted for publication in American Journal of Physiology (Cellular Physiology).
- Dr. Margot DeBaker (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Patterns of drug-related behavior: role of VTA DA neurons and inhibitory GPCR-dependent signaling”.
2021
- A manuscript from former lab member Dr. Allison Anderson (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) entitled “Characterization of VU0468554, a new selective inhibitor of cardiac GIRK channels” was accepted for publication in Molecular Pharmacology.
May
- A manuscript from former lab member Dr. Baovi Vo (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) entitled “Bidirectional influence of limbic GIRK channel activation on innate avoidance behavior” was accepted for publication in The Journal of Neuroscience.
April
- Tim Rose (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) is the recipient of a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for the 2021/2022 academic year.
March
- A manuscript from Margot DeBaker (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) entitled “Differential impact of inhibitory G protein signaling pathways in ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons on behavioral sensitivity to cocaine and morphine" was accepted for publication in eNeuro.
February
- A manuscript co-authored by Tim Rose (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) and Dr. Ezequiel Marron entitled “Impact of acute and persistent excitation of prelimbic pyramidal neurons on motor activity and trace fear learning" was published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
January
- Margot DeBaker has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (1F31AA028726-01A1) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) entitled “GABAB receptor-dependent signaling in alcohol consumption and reward”.
2020
- A book chapter from Tim Rose (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) entitled “Mechanisms and Regulation of Neuronal GABAB Receptor-Dependent Signaling” was published in Current Topics of Behavioral Neuroscience.
- Dr. Baovi Vo (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Mechanisms and therapeutic potential of inhibitory G protein signaling in anxiety-related disorders”.
July
- Dr. Allison Anderson (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “Physiological contribution and molecular details of GIRK-dependent signaling in the heart”; Allison is continuing her training in the Wickman lab as a postdoctoral associate starting in August.
- Baovi Vo received a Picower Fellowship from the Picower Institute for Learning and Memory, MIT, to conduct her postdoctoral research.
- Tyler Haeberle joins the VVCC and the Wickmanlab.
June
- Dr. Kevin Wickman was named Head of Pharmacology and holds the title of Frederick and Alice Stark Endowed Chair.
May
- Allison Anderson (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) received the Department of Pharmacology Research Publication Award for her recent publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science Annual accepted in April 2020.
April
- A manuscript from Allison Anderson (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) entitled “GPCR-dependent biasing of GIRK channel signaling dynamics by RGS6 in mouse sinoatrial nodal cells” was accepted for publication in Proceedings of the National Academy of Science.
March
- Baovi Vo presented a poster at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Virtual Neuronal Circuit Meeting and was selected as the meeting's featured participant.
- Haichang (Shirley) Luo (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) and Eric Mitten (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) join the Wickman lab.
January
- Allison Anderson (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) received the ASPET General Travel Award for her travel to the ASPET Annual Meeting at EB 2020 from April 3 - 7 in San Diego, CA.
2019
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron received support to attend and present a poster at the Engineering and Evolving Viruses to Expand Functionality meeting at Janelia Farms, Ashburn, VA.
August
- Baovi Vo (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) received the Department of Pharmacology Travel Award for her travel to the Society for Neuroscience 2019 Annual meeting from Oct 19 - 23 in Chicago, IL.
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron presented a poster at the Catecholamines GRC meeting in Newry, ME.
May
- Tim Rose (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) received the Department of Pharmacology Travel Award for his travel to the Society for Neuroscience 2019 Annual meeting from Oct 19 - 23 in Chicago, IL.
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron was promoted to Assistant Professor of Pharmacology in the Academic Track, in recognition of his exceptional contributions to science and the UMN biomedical research community over the past 6 years.
- Sonia Gazula - a Wayzata High School student participating in the Honors Mentor Connection Program - earned Meritorious Honors in the “Scholars of Distinction” program - for her paper describing her efforts over the past year with Baovi Vo on the contributions of inhibitory G protein signaling in the ventral hippocampus to anxiety related behavior.
- BaoVi Vo (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) is the recipient of a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for the 2019/2020 academic year.
April
- Allison Anderson (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) presented her work at the ASPET Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2019 meeting in Orlando, FL; Allison received a General Travel Award to attend this meeting.
March
- Kevin was named a Distinguished McKnight University Professor, an all-University award that recognizes faculty “who have made significant advances in their careers at the University of Minnesota, whose work and reputation are identified with the University, and whose accomplishments have brought great renown and prestige to Minnesota”.
- A manuscript from Nora McCall (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) entitled “GIRK channel activity in dopamine neurons of the ventral tegmental area bidirectionally regulates behavioral sensitivity to cocaine” was accepted for publication in the Journal of Neuroscience.
- A manuscript from BaoVi Vo (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) entitled “VU0810464, a non-urea GIRK channel activator, exhibits enhanced selectivity for neuronal GIRK channels and reduces stress-induced hyperthermia in mice” was accepted for publication in the British Journal of Pharmacology.
February
- Nora McCall (Graduate Program in Neuroscience) successfully defended her PhD thesis entitled “G protein-gated potassium channels in ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons temper behavioral sensitivity to cocaine”; Nora will begin postdoctoral training with Dr. Gregory Corder (UPenn) in April 2019.
2018
December
- A project from the Wickman lab entitled “Unbiased identification and modulation of behaviorally relevant neurons” was selected for support in 2019 by the Wallin Neuroscience Discovery Fund.
November
- Nora McCall (Graduate Program in Neuroscience), BaoVi Vo (Graduate Program in Pharmacology) and Dr. Ezequiel Marron presented posters at the Society for Neuroscience “Neuroscience 2018” annual meeting in San Diego, CA.
August
- New paper from graduate student Allison Anderson entitled "Atrial GIRK Channels Mediate the Effects of Vagus Nerve Stimulation on Heart Rate Dynamics and Arrhythmogenesis" published in Frontiers in Physiology.
June
- Margot DeBaker, Graduate Student from the Neuroscience program, joins the Wickman lab.
April
- New collaboration paper entitled "The influences of the M2R-GIRK4-RGS6 dependent parasympathetic pathway on electrophysiological properties of the mouse heart" published in PLOSone.
February
- The Wickmanlab welcomes its new addition to the team, Hannah Oberle. Congratulations!
January
- Allison Anderson publishes a first author paper in Scientific Reports entitled: "Expression and relevance of the G protein-gated K+ channel in the mouse ventricle".
2017
December
- Nora McCall received the Stark Award from Graduate Program in Neuroscience for her travel to the Winter Conference on Brain Research 2018 Annual meeting from Jan 14 - 19 in Whistler, B.C.
November
- New collaboration paper just published in Brain Struct Funct - Differential association of GABAB receptors with their effector ion channels in Purkinje cells.
September
- Nora McCall won the First Price on the Poster Competition at the Department of Pharmacology Retreat.
- Megan Tipps, Nora McCall, Allison Anderson and Baovi Vo are all finalists at the Department of Pharmacology Poster Competition.
August
- Baovi Vo successfully passed her oral preliminary exam. Congratulations!
- Allison Anderson successfully passed her oral preliminary exam. Well done!
- Allison Anderson has been awarded a Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) Individual Predoctoral Fellowship (F31 HL139090-01) from the National Heart Lung Blood Institute (NHLBI) entitled “Targeting the parasympathetic regulation of the heart to treat arrhythmias”. Congratulations Allison!
- Dr. Megan Tipps has been awarded a K01 (1K01AA025978-01) from the NIH/National Institute On Alcohol Abuse And Alcoholism entitled "Mechanisms and relevance of the ethanol-induced suppression of inhibitory signaling in the basolateral amygdala".
July
- Dr. Kevin Wickman gets promoted to Vice Head of the Department of Pharmacology.
May
- The Wickman Lab launches a "Viral Vector & Cloning Core" service to provide high-quality, high-titer custom Adeno-Associated Viruses (AAV) to the UMN community.
- Baovi Vo was a finalist in the 3 Minutes Thesis Talk (3MT) Competition that took place on the Research Recognition Day.
- Nora McCall presented her work on the role GIRK channels play in addiction in dopaminergic neurons at the Research Recognition Day.
- Timothy Rose was appointed to the "Neuroscience Training in Drug Abuse Research" training grant (DA007234).
April
- Timothy Rose, first-year student in the Graduate Program in Pharmacology, joined the Wickman lab for his graduate training. Welcome aboard!
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron, Dr. Lei Zhang, and Baovi Vo et al. published a paper, "GIRK2 splice variants and neuronal G protein-gated K+ channels: implications for channel function and behavior" in Scientific Reports.
February
- Nora McCall presented her work on the role GIRK channels play in addiction in dopaminergic neurons at the 2017 Winter Conference on Brain Research. Congrats!
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron et al. published a paper, "Suppression of inhibitory G protein signaling in forebrain pyramidal neurons triggers plasticity of glutamatergic neurotransmission in the nucleus accumbens core." in Neuropharmacology.
2016
November
- Nora McCall and Dr. Megan Tipps represented the lab at the 2016 Annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego. Nora and Megan presented their work, "Selective ablation of GIRK channels in dopamine neurons alters behavioral effects of cocaine in mice" and "Associative learning is gated by GABAB-GIRK signaling in pyramidal neurons of the basolateral amygdala," respectively.
- Nora McCall received a travel grant from the University of Minnesota Council of Graduate Students to present her work at the Annual Society for Neuroscience meeting.
- Nora McCall received a travel award from the Winter Conference for Brain Research, to attend their 2017 annual meeting from Jan 28 - Feb 2 in Big Sky, MT.
- Dr. Nicole Victoria's recently published paper in Biological Psychiatry was featured on the cover of the November 15 publication.
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron was selected as the featured scholar in the Global Scholar Profile Program at the University of Minnesota.
July
- Nora McCall et al. published a paper, "Selective Ablation of GIRK Channels in Dopamine Neurons Alters Behavioral Effects of Cocaine in Mice," in Neuropsychopharmacology.
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron presented work on the role of GIRK channels in modulating PrLC GABA neuron excitability and its possible role in modulating fear learning at the Ion Channel Gordon Conference at Mount Holyoke, Massachusetts.
March
- Allison Anderson and Baovi Vo – first–year students in the Graduate Program in Pharmacology – joined the Wickman lab for their graduate training. Welcome aboard!
- Nora McCall received an F31 NRSA Award (F31 DA041767) from the NIH/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) entitled "Cocaine-Induced Adaptations in Inhibitory Signaling in VTA Dopamine Neurons."
January
- Nora McCall presented work on the role of GIRK channels in VTA DA neurons in regulating behavioral sensitivity to cocaine at the Winter Conference on Brain Research in Breckenridge, Colorado.
2015
October
- Dr. Nicole Victoria accepted a position as an investigator at the FDA.
September
- Lydia Kotecki's poster received a "best poster" award at the Pharmacology Department's annual retreat.
August
- Dr. Nicole Victoria received an F32 NRSA award (F32 MH106190) from the NIH/National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH).
June
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron received a travel award from The Society of General Physiologists to attend and give an oral presentation at the FASEB Ion Channel Regulation Conference.
May
- Lydia Kotecki's work on the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying opioid reward-related behavior was published in The Journal of Neuroscience.
April
- Dr. Ezequiel Marron's work on sex differences in GIRK-dependent signaling in pyramidal neurons in the medial prefrontal cortex was published in Neuropharmacology.
- Dr. Nicole Victoria received a travel award to the Conference on Learning and Memory at University of Texas in Austin, where she presented her work on the role of GIRK channels in aversive learning and memory, and underlying plasticity.
January
- Dr. Nicole Victoria was appointed to the "Neuroscience Training in Drug Abuse Research" training grant (DA007234).
Nora McCall was appointed to the "Neuroscience Training in Drug Abuse Research" training grant (DA007234).