Effects of Alcohol on the Brain across the Lifespan

Dr. C. Fernando Valenzuela is a Regents' Professor of Neurosciences at the University of New Mexico Health Sciences Center and is the Director of the New Mexico Alcohol Research Center. He earned his M.D. with honors from the Colombian School of Medicine (Universidad El Bosque) and later obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences at the University of California, Riverside, under the mentorship of Dr. David A. Johnson. Following this, he completed postdoctoral training in Dr. Adron Harris's laboratory within the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Dr. Valenzuela's research primarily explores the effects of alcohol on synaptic transmission and plasticity during brain development, with a particular focus on how alcohol influences the maturation of neuronal circuits.

Dr. David L. Linsenbardt is an Assistant Professor of Neurosciences at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine and Health Sciences Center. He earned his Ph.D. from Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis in Addiction Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Stephen Boehm. He then completed postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Christopher Lapish in the same Department. Dr. Linsenbardt's research primarily explores the effects of alcohol on neurobehavioral function, with an emphasis on the motivating attributes of alcohol that lead to binge and high-intensity alcohol drinking, as well as the consequences of excessive alcohol drinking throughout the lifespan.

Dr. Jeffrey L. Weiner is a Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine. He is also the Director of the NIAAA-supported Wake Forest Translational Alcohol Research Center and the inaugural institutional Faculty Ombuds. He pursued his academic training at the University of Toronto, completing a B.S. in Neuroscience, an M.S. in Pharmacology, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology working with Dr. Peter L. Carlen. He then completed a postdoctoral fellowship with Dr. Thomas V. Dunwiddie in the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center in Denver. Dr. Weiner's laboratory uses rodent models and an integration of behavioral and neurobiological approaches to elucidate the circuit mechanisms underlying vulnerability and resilience to alcohol use disorder.