David Morilak, Ph.D.

Center for Biomedical Neuroscience, Director

Professor of Pharmacology

Ph.D., Princeton University
Office: 210-567-4174
Email: morilak@uthscsa.edu
View a video introduction to Dr. Morilak’s Lab>>
Research Interests

• antidepressants • anxiety
• behavior • cognition
• depression • HPA axis
• in situ hybridization                     • microdialysis
• norepinephrine • PTSD
• stress

Research Activities
We study the negative impact of stress, and mechanisms for better treatment of stress-related psychiatric disorders. Our research addresses a) regulation and integration of the acute behavioral, cognitive and endocrine responses to stress; b) adaptive and maladaptive responses to chronic stress; and c) regulatory mechanisms of action of psychotherapeutic drugs and other types of therapeutic interventions, including behavioral therapies. One focus of our research over the years has been on norepinephrine (NE), an important neuromodulatory transmitter that plays a critical role in the acute response to stress by enhancing arousal and sensorimotor response capabilities, and by integrating autonomic and endocrine responses with behavior. We study the role of NE in modulating behavioral and neuroendocrine responses to acute stress, and enhancing higher-order cognitive processes mediated in the prefrontal cortex related to cognitive flexibility and coping behavior. Our techniques span the range from molecular, cellular and neural circuit to whole animal behavior and cognition. We study structural, functional and regulatory changes in prefrontal circuits that underly neuronal plasticity, the basis of both stress-induced pathology and therapeutic efficacy. Our work is relevant to understanding stress-related pathology underlying illnesses such as depression, PTSD or anxiety disorders, and the beneficial effects of antidepressant and anxiolytic therapies. Experimental approaches include behavioral tests of cognition, arousal, anxiety and defensive responses; intracerebral drug microinjections; in vivo microdialysis to measure neurotransmitter release in behaving rats; in situ hybridization, immunohistochemistry and receptor autoradiography; radioimmunoassay for plasma hormone measures; electrophysiology to assess plasticity in ascending and descending corticolimbic circuits; viral-based chemo- and optogenetics, western blots, IP assays and other measures of protein regulation and signal transduction; and the application of chronic metabolic and psychogenic stressors.
 
Accomplishments, Awards and Honors 

  • Fellow of the American College of NeuroPsychopharmacology (ACNP)
  • President’s Council Faculty Scholar Award – UTHSCSA – 2013
  • Quincy and Estine Lee Endowed Chair

 
Appointments, Boards, Committees and Memberships 

  • Director – Center for Biomedical Neuroscience
  • Society for Neuroscience (SfN) Member
  • American College of NeuroPsychopharmacology (ACNP) Memebr
  • Collegium Internationale Neuro-Psychopharmacologicum (CINP) Member

 
Lectures, Posters and Presentations 
XXXI CINP World Congress – Vienna, Austria – June 16-19, 2018
New insights into the role of orbitofrontal cortex in compulsive behavior, psychopathology and its treatment
Department of Neuroscience, Mount Sinai School of Medicine – New York NY – Nov 30, 2017
Cognitive function in the rat medial prefrontal cortex: Models of pathology and therapeutic efficacy
Department of Physiology and Neurobiology, Giesel School of Medicine, Dartmouth University – Lebanon, NH – March 2, 2016
Prefrontal cortical function in preclinical models of psychiatric pathology and novel therapeutics
8th Annual Delaware Neuroscience Symposium – Delaware Biotechnology Institute – Newark, DE – December 4, 2015
Facilitation and dysregulation in the medial prefrontal cortex – mechanisms for stress-related psychiatric disorders and their treatment
Behavioral Neuroscience and Psychology Program – University of Texas at Austin – Austin, TX – April 22, 2015
Stress and cognition in the prefrontal cortex: Mechanisms of pathology and novel therapeutics
Selected Publications
 

  • Fucich E.A., Paredes, D. Saunders M., Morilak D.A. (2018) Activity in the ventral medial prefrontal cortex is necessary for the therapeutic effects of extinction in rats. J Neurosci in press. doi: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.0635-17.2017. PubMed ID: 29335360 [Epub ahead of print]

 

See all publications>>
 
Research Group 
Milena Girotti, Ph.D., Asst. Professor/Research
Jing Liu, Ph.D., Instructor/Research
Sarah Bulin, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Christina George, Research Assistant
Carlie McCartney, Research Assistant
Anna Rigodanzo, Research Assistant
Samantha Adler,  Neuroscience Graduate Student
Denisse Paredes, Neuroscience Graduate Student
Alexandra Sharp, Neuroscience Graduate Student