Becca Hofford, Ph.D.

!!!! So happy to share with you that my K01 was awarded! Thank you to @KiralyLab for all your help and all my current lab members for their support!!! And thank you to every single person that I have ever collaborated with!!

To start, we asked @AyaOsman, "Where do you think we need to focus our attention as a scientific community in terms of diversity and inclusion?" Follow the link to hear our 2021 interview with Dr. Osman: storiesofwin.org/profiles/2021/…

Brief disruption of the microbiome has age-dependent effects on morphine reward and gene expression in the medial prefrontal cortex ... biorxiv.org/cgi/content/sh… #biorxiv_neursci

We’re thrilled to announce the winners of the Wake Forest Center for Addiction Research (CFAR) Poster Competition held during this year’s retreat. Thanks to all who shared their incredible research! Your hard work and dedication continue to advance the field of addiction science.

And a special thanks to the poster reviewers. Received a lot of great insights to our work on peripheral immune dysfunction in OUD!

@WakeForestCFAR annual retreat was another success! Great talks and presentations throughout. Thanks to all who made it happen!

Successful ✅ first SfN. 🤓Had so much fun learning, listening, presenting and spending time with the best lab mates! @SensJonathon @OffordRefresh @DannisCazarez @KiralyLab @SfNtweets

As is often the case @SensJonathon beat me to the punch, but please do check them out! Some great work from some great young scientists. And several first time @SfNtweets attendees!

Also come say hi to the other @KiralyLab members presenting! Exciting work being done by amazing people!

#sfn2024 is gearing up to be another great meeting with great science! I may be biased, but I’m most excited to share my work looking at a subset of T cells that drive opioid taking behaviors! Please stop by my poster Monday 1-5PM at N37 if interested or to say hi!

The Shaham & Hope labs at the SfN meeting: If you are interested in behavioral and neurobiological mechanisms of drug self-administration, choice, relapse and social behavior, please visit our posters during the meeting

Thrilled to announce my appointment as Co-Director of the Wake Forest Center for Addiction Research. I am excited to work with this world class group of scientists and clinicians to advance understanding and treatment of substance use disorders.

Two lab qualifying exams in two weeks! A huge congrats to Marta Koperska on passing with flying colors. Gratulacje! @MartaKoperska3 @wakeforestmed

Some sparkling cider to celebrate Jonathon being our first successful qualifying exam from Kiraly Lab South!! Congrats, J! @SensJonathon

New lab paper alert! Work by @KelseyLucerne and colleagues finds the cytokine CSF2 is increased by cocaine in a microbiome dependent manner. Increased CSF2 signaling leads to decreased cocaine preference and altered transcriptional response to cocaine. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39098439/

Today is #internationaloverdoseawarenessday so we wanted to re-share these resources for those who are seeking help, or for those who want training on naloxone administration. serafinelab.com/substance-use-… . We recommend following @BeWellTexas, @TexasHRA, @endoverdose too!

It's finally out, on Joe's last day in the lab before heading off to postdoc! We asked whether a putative "social" brain area does anything unique with social cues when they're not used for any social reasoning. Turns out it does! nature.com/articles/s4146…

Such an honor to present my work on the peripheral immune system in OUD at #GRSAddiction! Thank you so much to the co-chairs @KatherineSavell and @BriannaEGeorge for organizing and @KiralyLab for his mentorship!

Synaptogyrin-3 Prevents Cocaine Addiction and Dopamine Deficits biorxiv.org/content/10.110…

So happy it’s #BINW24. I’m Shawn Bates, an Assistant Professor @ChicoState. I’m happy to be here and see all the representation. We study vulnerability to drug abuse in adolescents. I teach Bio Psych & Psychopharm mostly. I’m a new (6 months in) dad too! #BlackInNeuroRollCall

Hi Friends! Giving it one more try and running for @APA Board of Directors again to be a strong voice for psychological science. More details to come, but I'd so appreciate your #1 vote when ballots are released on August 1.