Current research

The Nguyen Lab is interested in the behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms underlying the onset and development of substance use disorders and addiction. Areas of focus in the lab include neural circuits mediating drug-seeking behavior and dependence, the neurobiological effects of electronic cigarette (e-cigarette) vapor exposure, and the behavioral and physiological consequences following exposure to opioids and cannabinoids. The Nguyen Lab currently investigates mechanisms of opioid addiction, including kappa opioid receptor’s contributions to a compulsive-like escalation in oxycodone self-administration using chemogenetic methodology. Dr. Nguyen’s research program incorporates multidisciplinary methodologies (behavioral, molecular, and biochemical) to study mechanisms of reward and stress, which are closely associated with substance use, addiction, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

Addiction Research

“An important goal of current neurobiological research on addiction is to understand the neuropharmacological and neuroadaptive mechanisms within specific neurocircuits that mediate the transition between occasional, controlled drug use and the loss of behavioral control over drug-seeking and drug-taking that defines chronic addiction.”

— Koob G. F. & Le Moal M. (2006). Neurobiology of addiction. Elsevier Academic.