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Van Rijn lab (PI - Richard M. van Rijn PhD)
Purdue University, College of Pharmacy, Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology The mission of the Van Rijn lab is to uncover new strategies to treat psychiatric and neurological disorders. We specifically investigate the heavily co-morbid triad of drug use disorders, chronic pain disorders and mood disorders. Our primary target, the delta opioid receptor, is involved in the neuropharmacology of all three disorders and thus offers an exciting novel approach to treat these disorders. The Van Rijn lab covers all aspects of preclinical drug development including drug synthesis, drug screening, pharmacological characterization both in vitro and in vivo. We also perform mechanistic studies to improve our understanding of the etiology of these disorders.
News - 2018April 25th, 2018 - Robert Cassell received a student merit travel grant from the Research Society on Alcoholism to attend the annual conference in San Diego this June. Congratulations Rob.
April 23rd, 2018 - Mee Jung Ko presented her research on TRPA1 channels in the poster competition at Experimental Biology 2018 with a poster titled "A pharmacological model of TRPA1-mediated nociception in the zebrafish for therapeutic discovery". April 10th, 2018 - Kendall Mores was selected to present her undergraduate research at the Office of Undergraduate Research Conference and won 3rd best oral presentation out of 28 participants from across the Purdue campus. Great job Kendall! April 9th, 2018 - The Van Rijn lab received a $10,000 research enhancement grant from the Purdue Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology to characterize potential biased delta opioid receptor agonists identified in an in silico screen. Thanks for the support! April 8th, 2018 - Congratulations to Kendall Mores for being a top rank pharmacy student worthy of induction into the Rho Chi society. The Van Rijn lab is fortunate to have already witnessed Kendall's intelligence and hard work over the last 2+ years. Outstanding accomplishment Kendall! March 29th, 2018 - Grace Mulia, a 3rd year BSPS student has received a Dean's summer fellowship to work in the Van Rijn lab in the summer investigating ERK activation in several brain regions in male and female mice following a range of stimuli. Congratulations Grace! March 23rd, 2018 - Dr. van Rijn was one of the invited regional speakers for the Greater Indiana Society for Neuroscience annual meeting, with a presentation entitled "The yellow brick road map to developing new alcohol use disorder treatments". March 18th, 2018 - Congratulations to Meridith Robins and co-authors for the acceptance of the latest Van Rijn Lab manuscript in Frontiers in Psychiatry describing her findings for a role for Gi-protein activity in the dorsal striatum in reducing voluntary alcohol intake in mice. Meridith used pharmacological and pharmacogenetic (DREADD) approaches to find that activation of Gi-coupled delta opioid receptors and muscarinic M4 receptors in the dorsal striatum causes mice to drink less alcohol. March 12th, 2018 - Congratulations to Mee Jung Ko for receiving a IBANGS Young Investigator Travel Award to attend the Genes, Brain and Behavior meeting in Rochester, Minnesota. March 10th, 2018 - The Van Rijn lab received a 2-year $100,000 R03 grant from the National Institute for Drug Abuse to "develop G-protein biased delta opioid receptor agonist with analgesic potency". Thanks for the support. March 6th, 2018 - Dr. van Rijn was invited to the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology by Dr. Patrick Sheets at Indiana University School of Medicine to give a seminar entitled "Self administration of kratom to treat alcohol addiction - Why it may work" March 5th, 2018 - Meridith Robins successfully defended her PhD Thesis "Behavioral pharmacology of alcohol and legal pscyhostimulants". Congratulations Dr. Robins!! March 1st, 2018 - Congratulations to Meridith and co-authors for the latest publication by the Van Rijn lab in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. In the paper Meridith characterized the role of beta-arrestin 1 in several neurological behaviors using genetic knockout animal models. Merditih's data suggests that beta-arrestin 1 may have a protective role again alcohol use in females. February 26th, 2018 - Congratulations to Maria Shelley, a P1 pharmacy student, for receiving a Dean's Summer Fellowship to start characterizing biased signaling pathways in human and mouse neuronal cell lines in our lab. February 19th, 2018 - Congratulations to Meridith Robins for being a recipient of a Teaching Academy Graduate Teaching Award, by the Center for Instructional Excellence. Great job Meridith! February 6th, 2018 - Congratulations to Mee Jung Ko for being awarded an ASPET Travel Award to attend the Experimental Biology Conference in San Diego in 2018. January 3rd, 2018 - Congratulations to Mee Jung Ko for being awarded A Travel Award from the Purdue Institute of Integrative Neuroscience to attend the International Narcotics Research Conference in San Diego in 2018. January 3rd, 2018 - Congratulations to Mee Jung Ko for being awarded A Chaney Travel Award to attend the Experimental Biology Conference in San Diego in 2018. Science trumps politics. Register.Vote. Help others to register and vote. Apathy leads to stupidity.
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RECENT PUBLICATIONSMarch 18th, 2018 - Our paper investigating the role of Gi-protein activity in the dorsal striatum in modulating voluntary alcohol intake has been accepted for publication in the open access journal Frontiers in Psychiatry as part of the special topics in opioid research issue.
March 1st, 2018 - Our paper characterizing beta-arrestin 1 knockout mice in anxiety-like and alcohol behavior has been accepted for publication in the open access journal Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience. November 30th, 2017 - A collaborative manuscript by visiting scientist Ricardo Marquez-Gomez describing evidence for the existence of heteromers between adenosine A2a and histamine H3 receptors has been accepted in the journal Pharmacological Research. FIND US HEREDisclaimer of opinion
The information, statements and opinions presented on the the Van Rijn lab website are solely expressed by Dr. van Rijn and do not necessarily represent views held by Purdue University. Donate to science.
If you appreciate the research carried out in the Van Rijn lab and support our goals feel free to donate to the advancement of science. Donations will be used to help support (undergraduate) students and carry out experiments exploring exciting new preliminary projects, currently not funded through other mechanisms. Donations can be made by specifically mentioning the Van Rijn lab at the following Purdue University website: Purdue Research Foundation: Giving to Purdue Instructions on types of donations |
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