Eliot L. Gardner, Ph.D., Chief - Principal Investigators - The Intramural Research Program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse

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PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS

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NIDA-IRP
251 Bayview Blvd
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Phone: (443) 740-2516

Fax: (443) 740-2781

Email egardner@mail.nih.gov

Eliot L. Gardner, Ph.D., Senior Investigator

Chief, Neuropsychopharmacology Section on-site page link

Postdoctoral training – Neurology. Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Postdoctoral training – Pharmacology. Albert Einstein College of Medicine

Ph.D. (First class honours) – Physiological Psychology. McGill University

M.A. (Honours) – Experimental Psychology and Psychopharmacology. McGill University

A.B. (cum laude) – Psychology. Harvard University



RESEARCH INTERESTS
  • Basic brain mechanisms underlying drug addiction, craving, and relapse
  • Endocannabinoid brain mechanisms and addiction
  • Dopamine D3 receptor antagonists
  • Glutamatergic compounds, with emphasis on the metabotropic glutamate receptor
  • GABAergic agonists, with emphasis on the GABA-B receptor
  • Slow-onset long-acting dopamine transport inhibitors
  • Drugs acting on the endocannabinoid brain system

Research in all these areas is directed toward the development of effective anti-addiction, anti-craving, anti-relapse medications.



Selected Publications:

  1. Vorel SR, Liu X, Hayes RJ, Spector JA, Gardner EL. Relapse to cocaine-seeking after hippocampal theta burst stimulation. Science 292:1175-1178, 2001.

  2. Vorel SR, Ashby CR Jr, Paul M, Liu X, Hayes R, Hagan JJ, Middlemiss DN, Stemp G, Gardner EL. Dopamine D3 receptor antagonism inhibits cocaine-seeking and cocaine-enhanced brain reward in rats. Journal of Neuroscience 22:9595-9603, 2002.

  3. Hayes RJ, Vorel SR, Spector J, Liu X, Gardner EL. Electrical and chemical stimulation of the basolateral complex of the amygdala reinstates cocaine-seeking behavior in the rat. Psychopharmacology 168:75-83, 2003.

  4. Gardner EL. Brain reward mechanisms. In: Lowinson JH, Ruiz P, Millman RB, Langrod JG (Eds), Substance Abuse: A Comprehensive Textbook, 4th ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, pp.48-97, 2005.

  5. Xi Z-X, Gilbert JG, Peng X-Q, Pak AC, Li X, Gardner EL. Cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonist AM251 inhibits cocaine-primed relapse in rats: Role of glutamate in the nucleus accumbens. Journal of Neuroscience 26:8531-8536, 2006.

  6. Xi Z-X, Spiller K, Pak AC, Gilbert J, Dillon C, Li X, Peng X-Q, Gardner EL. Cannabinoid CB1 receptor antagonists attenuate cocaine’s rewarding effects: Experiments with self-administration and brain-stimulation reward in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology 33:1735-1745, 2008.

  7. Li X, Li J, Gardner EL, Xi Z-X. Activation of mGluR7s inhibits cocaine-induced reinstatement of drug-seeking behavior by a nucleus accumbens glutamate-mGluR2/3 mechanism in rats. Journal of Neurochemistry 114:1368-1380, 2010.

  8. Peng X-Q, Xi Z-X, Li X, Spiller K, Li J, Chun L, Wu K-M, Froimowitz M, Gardner EL. Is slow-onset long-acting monoamine transport blockade to cocaine as methadone is to heroin? Implication for anti-addiction medications. Neuropsychopharmacology 35:2564-2578, 2010.

  9. Song R, Yang R-F, Wu N, Su R-B, Li J, Peng X-Q, Li X, Gaál J, Xi Z-X, Gardner EL. YQA14: A novel dopamine D3 receptor antagonist that inhibits cocaine self-administration in rats and mice, but not in D3 receptor-knockout mice. Addiction Biology in press, 2011 [Epub ahead of print 20 Apr 2011].

  10. Xi Z-X, Peng X-Q, Li X, Zhang H, Yang H-J, Xu H-Y, Liu Q-R, Li J, Gardner EL. Brain cannabinoid CB2 receptors modulate cocaine’s action in mice. Nature Neuroscience in press, 2011 [Epub ahead of print 24 July 2011].

About Dr. Gardner's...

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