FACULTY
Amanda R. Pahng, PhD
Assistant Professor-Research
Alcohol & Drug Abuse Center of Excellence (ADACE)
Physiology
- apahng@lsuhsc.edu
- Medicine
Academic Office:
LSUHSC School of Medicine
533 Bolivar St
Room 601F
New Orleans, LA 70115
504-568-2550
Education
BS in Psychology, Minor in Statistics, 05/2009, The University of Georgia.
PhD in Neuroscience, 12/2015, Tulane University.
Postdoctoral Fellowship, LSU Health Sciences Center.
Teaching
Co-Course Director, Special Topics in Physiology - Perspectives in Alcohol Research (PHYSIO 289)
Instructor, Nursing Human Physiology (HLSC 2410)
Instructor, Dental Hygiene General & Oral Physiology (DHY3202)
Selected Publications
Barattini AE, & Pahng AR (2025). Interactions of pain and opioids on conditioned place preference in rodents. Psychopharmacology. 242(1):1-26. PMID: 39562334.
Barattini AE, Gilpin NW, & Pahng AR (2024). Chronic inflammatory pain reduces fentanyl intake during early acquisition of fentanyl self-administration, but does not change motivation to take fentanyl in male and female rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior. 245. PMID: 39366430.
Siddiqi MT, Podder D, Pahng AR, Athanason AC, Nadav T, Cates-Gatto C, Kreifeldt M, Contet C, Roberts AJ, Edwards S, Roberto M, Varodayan FP (2023). Prefrontal cortex glutamatergic adaptations in a mouse model of alcohol use disorder. Addiction Neuroscience. 9. PMID: 38152067.
Barattini AE, Montanari C, Edwards KN, Gilpin NW, Edwards S, & Pahng AR (2023). Chronic inflammatory pain promotes place preference for fentanyl in male rats but does not change fentanyl self-administration in male and female rats. Neuropharmacology. 231:109512. PMID: 36948356.
Edwards S, Callicoatte CN, Barattini AE, Cucinello-Ragland JA, Melain A, Edward KN, Gilpin NW, Avegno EM, & Pahng AR (2022). Pramipexole treatment attenuates mechanical hypersensitivity in male rats experiencing chronic inflammatory pain. Neuropharmacology. PMID: 35085583
Varodayan FP, Pahng AR, Davis TD, Gandhi P, Bajo M, Steinman MQ, Kiosses WB, Blednov YA, Burkart MD, Edwards S, Roberts AJ, & Roberto M (2023). Chronic ethanol induces a pro-inflammatory switch in interleukin-1β regulation of GABAergic signaling in the medial prefrontal cortex of male mice. Brain Behavior and Immunity. 110: 125-139. PMID: 36863493.
Bazan HA*, Bhattacharjee S*, Burgos C, Recio J, Abet V, Pahng AR, Jun B, Heap J, Ledet AJ, Gordon WC, Edwards S, Paul D, Alvarez-Builla J, & Bazan NG (2020). A novel pipeline of non-narcotic analgesics that lack hepatotoxicity and retain antipyresis. European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 202:112600. *B.H. and S.B. contributed equally to this work. PMID: 32629335
Pahng AR, Paulsen RI, McGinn MA, Farooq MA, Edward KN, & Edwards S (2019). Dysregulation of c-jun n-terminal kinase phosphorylation in alcohol dependence. Alcohol. 75: 11-18. PMID: 30321699
Pahng AR, & Edwards (2018). Measuring pain avoidance-like behavior in drug-dependent rats. Current Protocols in Neuroscience.85(1), e53. PMID: 30248240
Pahng AR, Paulsen RI, McGinn MA, Edward KN, & Edwards S (2017). Neurobiological correlates of pain avoidance-Like behavior in morphine-dependent and non-dependent rats. Neuroscience. 366: 1-14. PMID: 29024786
Research Interests
Dr. Pahng’s research interests are in understanding the neurobiological and behavioral interactions of pain and drug abuse liability. Specifically, she investigates how altered signaling in reward- and pain-related circuitry contributes to excessive drug intake and hyperalgesia (heightened pain sensitivity) in the development of disease states, namely drug addiction and chronic pain. She has a particular interest in investigating clinically available non-opioid medications for the treatment of opioid misuse and pain. Her current research is focused on investigating the intersection of chronic inflammatory pain, fentanyl misuse, and fentanyl adulterants. Her work combines behavioral, pharmacological, molecular, and circuit-based approaches in animal models of opioid use disorder and chronic inflammatory pain.