Assistant Professor

Graduate Training: Bejing Institute of Pharma- cology & Toxicology, China
Fellowships: Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center; University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Departments of Behavioral Medicine & Psychiatry;    Physiology & Pharmacology
WVU School of Medicine
One Medical Center Drive
PO Box 9137
Morgantown, WV 26506-9137
t: 304-293-1488
f: 304-293-1634
e: hzhang@hsc.wvu.edu

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Research Interests

My major research interests focus on signal transduction involved in neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders. Specifically, I am interested in exploring the roles of cAMP/CREB signaling in the mediation of depression, anxiety, alcohol use disorders, and memory loss associated with Alzheimer’s disease. Techniques include various animal models (e.g., radial arm-maze, water-maze, passive avoidance, and object recognition for memory; DRL schedule, forced-swim, and tail-suspension for depression; elevated-plus maze, holeboard, and light-dark transition for anxiety; alcohol drinking behavior, and righting reflex for alcohol dependence), enzyme assays, immunoblotting, immunohistochemistry, RNAi gene silencing (microRNAs), etc. Our goal is to elucidate the mechanisms whereby cAMP/CREB signaling mediates neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

Cyclic AMP Signaling in the Mediation of Central Functions

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