Kyle Bills, DC, PhD

ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR RESEARCH

Dr. Bills’ laboratory seeks to understand the neuroscience of peripheral neurological stimulation particularly as it relates to addiction.  We study the non-canonical central hodology of spinal mechanoreceptors and their effects on the mesolimbic circuitry.  We also place particular emphasis on translational applications for non-pharmacological interventions for addiction.

David Sant, PhD

Assistant Research Professor

Dr. Sant’s laboratory is focused on analysis of large datasets with a particular interest in genomic and epigenomic datasets. Much of his work has revolved around chromatin modification and DNA hydroxymethylation patterns and how they change in response to changes in cellular environment. Other projects have involved updating the Sequence Ontology and designing web-scraping programs to obtain and normalize genetic variant information from multiple clinical genetic variant databases. 

Jordan T. Yorgason, PhD

Research Team

Dr. Yorgason’s laboratory is interested in understanding the neuroscience of motivation for appetitive behavior and conditioned learning. A major focus in the lab is the development of new tools for studying neuroscience using a variety of engineering modalities. Some current projects include the development of virtual reality systems for studying neural physiology in head restrained rodents performing behavioral tasks.

Scott C. Steffensen, PhD

Research Team

Dr. Steffensen’s laboratory primarily utilizes electrophysiology (both in vitro and in vivo) to measure and analyze the effects of substances on dopamine (DA) release in the nucleus accumbens (NAc) of the anterior forebrain. Understanding the effects of DA is vital to understanding addiction and also the eventual clinical development of treatment.

Robert W. Pettitt, PhD, FACSM, ATC, CSCS

Research Team

Dr. Pettitt’s laboratory was strategically designed to conduct data collection off-site and in the field.  We have a wide range of telemetric sensors that enable whole-body motion capture and systemic measurements (e.g., metabolic analyzers, EMG, NIRS).  Our latest research centers on applications related critical power, cardiac rehabilitation, deleterious effects of vaping, and ergonomic situations involving police and firefighters.

Michael Sullivan

Data Engineer