Rajani Maiya, PhD
Department of Physiology
Research focuses on understanding how experience-dependent changes in gene expression are mobilized into neuroadaptive changes that underlie the development of alcohol addiction. The Maiya lab has two main research projects: 1) Investigating the role of the transcription co-factor Lim-Only 4(LMO4) in alcohol consumption and reward, and 2) Investigating the molecular mechanisms that underlie social defeat stress-induced escalation of alcohol consumption. The lab uses cutting-edge molecular genetic tools including whole genome sequencing and targeted recombination in activated populations (TRAP) to address these questions.