Allyn Howlett, PhD
Professor in the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology at Wake Forest School of Medicine in Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Dr. Howlett is a member of the Center for Research on Substance Use and Addiction at Wake Forest, and of the NIDA-funded P50 Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction Treatment. Her lab investigates cannabinoid and endocannabinoid compounds that stimulate the CB1 receptor and regulate signal transduction pathways in cultured neuronal cells. She studies CB1 receptor phosphorylation as a means to direct signaling through specific G proteins, as well as the potential for drugs to direct the partnering with different G proteins leading to selection of certain signal transduction pathways (e.g., via adenylyl cyclase inhibition, MAPK activation, Ca2+ regulation, and NO production). The goal is to identify drugs that target neurons in the brain that promote therapeutically beneficial actions, but diminish the activity of neurons that produce untoward side effects.
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