May 8, 2025, 1:00 PM
Effects of isolated cannabinoids and endocannabinoids on emotional behavior in rodents
Dr. Covey is currently an Assistant Professor at Lovelace Biomedical Research Institute (LBRI) in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He started this position in June 2020 after completing his PhD at Illinois State University and a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Maryland in Baltimore. Dr. Covey lead a competitive research group who combine state-of-the-art techniques capable of simultaneously monitoring and controlling neuronal activity in real time to understand motivation, learning, and reinforcement in health and disease. His research program aims to: (1) identify the neural circuits that encode motivationally-salient stimuli to drive the acquisition and expression of goal-directed actions; (2) determine how aberrant activity within these circuits motivates maladaptive behaviors that underlie, for example, drug abuse, addiction, obesity, and depression; and (3) foster a motivated and collaborative research team who utilize and develop cutting-edge tools to address these complex questions. A primary focus of his research has been understanding the cellular mechanisms by which cannabinoids and endocannabinoids influence dopamine function and motivated behaviors.