The specialized Psychiatry Research Pathway (PRP) enables Department of Psychiatry residents to simultaneously receive clinical training and pursue their passion for research through mentorship, conducting research projects, and receiving training that facilitates their career development into highly successful investigators. McGowan Institute for Regenerative Medicine affiliated faculty member Zachary Freyberg, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Cell Biology will serve as PRP Associate Director.
The overall long-term goal of Dr. Freyberg’s research is to better understand human disorders of dopaminergic neurotransmission including addiction, schizophrenia, and Parkinson’s disease. In order to do so, his laboratory has begun dissecting presynaptic dopaminergic neurotransmission at the synaptic vesicle level using a combination of complementary approaches including genetics, pharmacology, and both light and electron microscopy. Consequently, the lab’s current research projects include Mechanisms of Dopamine Synaptic Vesicle Loading and Release in Health and Neurodegenerative Diseases; Dopamine’s Roles Outside the Central Nervous System in Regulation of Insulin Release and Antipsychotic Drug Action; In Situ Cryo-Electron Microscopy and Super-Resolution Imaging Approaches to Vesicle Trafficking and Synaptic Plasticity; and In Situ Cryo-Electron Tomography Approaches to Super-Resolution Precision Medicine for Mitochondrial Diseases.
Congratulations, Dr. Freyberg
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University of Pittsburgh Department of Psychiatry News Release