Crofton Research Laboratory
Research Area
Our research focuses on examining the neurobiological and molecular mechanisms of abused drugs using animal models. Drug addiction, or substance use disorders, is a complex brain disorder and although research has made large advances, treatment options remain limited. We use a variety of behavioral and molecular techniques to investigate the effects of alcohol on the rodent brain. We are particularly interested in individual differences in susceptibility of rodents to alcohol consumption. Treatment options may be improved with a better understanding of these underlying individual differences as well as the molecular pathogenesis, or development, of addiction.
Principal Investigator
Elizabeth J. Crofton, PhD
Prior to joining the Psychology and Neuroscience faculty in 2020, Dr. Crofton was a postdoctoral scholar at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC, in the Seeding Postdoctoral Innovators in Research and Education (SPIRE) Postdoctoral Fellowship Program. Her postdoctoral research in the laboratories of Melissa A. Herman, Ph.D. and A. Leslie Morrow, Ph.D, focused on the neurobiological mechanisms of alcohol at the single-cell level using animal models. As part of her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Crofton was a part-time instructor in the Biology Department at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in Greensboro, NC in 2019. Her dissertation research in the laboratory of Thomas A. Green, Ph.D. focused on using animal models to identify and validate novel molecular targets for cocaine use disorder and mood disorders.
Undergraduate Neuroscience Team
Our research is 100% driven by undergraduate students at Emmanuel College, Boston MA
