Camron D. Bryant, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry
Department of Pharmacology
Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Laboratory: Laboratory of Addiction Genetics
Research Interests
Dr. Bryant is the Director of the Laboratory of Addiction Genetics. Dr. Bryant’s research program is focused on determining the genetic basis of behavioral and molecular traits relevant to substance dependence in mice. The ultimate goal is to improve our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms of addiction and to translate these findings toward treatment and prevention strategies in humans. A current focus is to determine the genetic basis of the rewarding properties of opioids in mice by combining quantitative trait locus (QTL) analysis of behavior and gene expression in genetic reference populations that yield high resolution QTLs. This multi-pronged approach to gene mapping will accelerate the nomination of candidate genes for validation via direct gene targeting. A separate focus with regard to functional characterization of candidate genes is the dissection of the hypothesized opposing roles of casein kinase-1 (CK-1) isoforms in regulating dopaminergic signaling and the motivational properties of drugs of abuse. Last, Dr. Bryant has a longstanding interest in deciphering the neurobiological basis of the “placebo effect”, a phenomenon that has been hypothesized to be mediated by the reward expectation. He plans to develop and apply a forward genetic analysis toward Pavlovian conditioning mouse models across a variety of conditions that are notoriously sensitive to the placebo effect, including pain, anxiety, depression, and Parkinson’s Disease.
Recent News
March 8, 2013: Dr. Bryant won the Outstanding Junior Faculty Travel Award for the 2013 International Behavioural and Neural Genetics Society (IBANGS) in Leuven, Belgium. Dr. Bryant’s abstract was selected for an invited talk that he will present during the Awardee session on May 21. In addition, Dr. Bryant will be provided with a stipend to cover his travel expenses.
December 3, 2012: Dr. Bryant presented his poster at the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) meeting, “A 0.23 Mb region on mouse chromosome 11 contains three possible genes influencing methamphetamine sensitivity” in Hollywood, FL. Please click here for a link to his poster.
November 30, 2012: Lisa Goldberg, a second year graduate student in Biomolecular Pharmacology and the Program in Biomedical Neuroscience has joined the Laboratory of Addiction Genetics. Welcome aboard, Lisa!
November 12, 2012: Dr. Bryant’s manuscript, “Bryant et al., in press” was accepted in Addiction Biology.
Selected Publications
Bryant CD, Guido MA, Kole LA, Cheng R (2012). The heritability of oxycodone reward and concomitant phenotypes in a LG/J x SM/J mouse advanced intercross line. Addiction Biology, in press.
Bryant CD, Kole LA, Guido MA, Cheng R, Palmer AA (2012). Methamphetamine-induced conditioned place preference in LG/J and SM/J mouse strains and an F45/F46 advanced intercross line. Frontiers in Genetics 3:126
Bryant CD, Kole LA, Guido MA, Sokoloff G, Palmer AA (2012). Congenic dissection of a major QTL for methamphetamine sensitivity implicates epistasis. Genes, Brain and Behavior 11(5):623-32
Bryant CD, Parker CC, Zhou L, Olker C, Chandrasekaran RY, Wager TT, Bolivar VJ, Loudon AS, Vitaterna MH, Turek FW, Palmer AA (2012). Csnk1e is a genetic regulator of sensitivity to psychostimulants and opioids. Neuropsychopharmacology 37(4):1026-35.
Bryant CD, Roberts KW, Culbertson CS, Le A, Evans CJ, Fanselow MS (2009). Pavlovian conditioning of multiple opioid-like responses in mice. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 103:74-83.
Bryant CD, Graham ME, Distler MG, Munoz MB, Li D, Vezina P, Sokoloff G, Palmer AA (2009). A role for casein kinase 1 epsilon in the locomotor stimulant response to methamphetamine. Psychopharmacology 203(4):703-11.
Bryant CD, Zhang NN, Sokoloff G, Fanselow MS, Ennes HS, Palmer AA, McRoberts JA (2008). Behavioral differences among C57BL/6 substrains: Implications for transgenic and knockout studies. Journal of Neurogenetics 22(4):315-31.
Contact
Office: 72 East Concord Street L-606C
Boston, MA 02118
Office Phone: 617-638-4489
Email: camron@bu.edu
