May 28 Dr. Hao Chen Presents “Oxycodone, Behavior Cues from Rats, Genomes, Machine Intelligence, and Predictive Biomarkers” in Link Auditorium

The Department of Physiology has moved the Seminar Series to LINK Auditorium at 855 Monroe Ave, 2nd floor.

Please join us this Thursday, May 28th for a presentation from Dr. Hao Chen, Professor, Pharmacology, Addiction Science and Toxicology, titled "Oxycodone, Behavior Cues from Rats, Genomes, Machine Intelligence, and Predictive Biomarkers" 3:30 PM to 5:00 PM. Refreshments will be provided.

Summary: By studying voluntary oral oxycodone consumption in the Hybrid Rat Diversity Panel, we identified "augmenter" strains characterized by rapid drug escalation. Analysis of the pattern of licking behavior revealed that hedonic pleasure drives the compulsion to seek the drug in these vulnerable strains. Genetic mapping identified significant loci where genetic variants are linked to oxycodone consumption. These findings support the development of objective biomarkers to predict addiction risk and improve the clinical management of pain and opioid exposure.

Brief Bio: Hao Chen, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Addiction Science, and Toxicology at UTHSC. He earned his PhD from Michigan State University and completed postdoctoral training at UTHSC. Dr. Chen's research focuses on the systems genetics of substance use disorders, specifically identifying the genetic determinants of nicotine and opioid consumption. His laboratory utilizes both the Hybrid Rat Diversity Panel and Heterogeneous Stock rats to identify genetic variants linked to voluntary drug use and the transition to escalated intake. He leads an international effort in rat genome sequencing and assembly to improve the reference resources for the research community. Dr. Chen has developed several informatics tools and web services, including Chilibot and GeneCup, which leverages machine intelligence to integrate biomedical literature with genomic data. He currently leads multiple NIH-funded initiatives mapping genetic variants associated with addiction vulnerability and a State of Tennessee-funded program developing objective biomarkers for the early detection of opioid misuse.