Valentina SabinoDr. Sabino is co-director of the Laboratory of Addictive Disorders, and is currently researching the neurobiology of addiction and stress-related disorders. Studies on addiction aim to understand the neurobiological substrates of alcohol abuse and deendence by exploring the role of neurochemical systems in excessive alcohol drinking. Dr. Sabino is working toward the development of new therapeutic agents to alleviate alcohol addiction. Animal models for excessive drinking are studied in order to identify compounds for potential clinical development. Research is also conducted on the neurobiology of stress-related disorders such as anxiety and depression. The approach of the laboratory is interdisciplinary, involving behavioral neuroscience, neuropharmacology, neuroanatomy, biochemistry and molecular biology. Dr. Sabino co-directs a graduate course in neuropsychopharmacology offered for the first time in Fall 2010 which examines the interaction between behavior and classes of drugs that affect the central nervous system giving emphasis on how behavioral studies can assist in our understanding of mental disorders. Read More Read Less