Professor
Associate Dean for Research & Graduate Programs,
School of Pharmacy

Graduate Training: Brown University
Fellowship: Northwestern University

Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences
West Virginia University School of Pharmacy
One Medical Center Drive
P.O. Box 9530 Health Sciences Center
Morgantown, WV 26506
t: 304-293-1450
f: 304-293-2576
e: rmatsumoto@hsc.wvu.edu

Research Interests

We studies the effects of drugs on the brain, with an emphasis on the development and understanding of new medications to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. Recently, novel compounds with powerful anti-cocaine effects have been developed and tested in collaboration with medicinal chemist colleagues; these compounds also mitigate the effects of other psychostimulants such as methamphetamine and MDMA (Ecstasy). Additional compounds have been characterized that may hold promise as a new class of antidepressant drugs. Much of the current research in the laboratory is focused on optimizing these new compounds, and identifying the cellular and molecular mechanisms through which they exert their beneficial actions.