Photo Credit: C. Lüscher
Education and Training
Honours Bachelor of Science (2004-2008) University of Toronto - Scarborough Doctor of Philosophy (2008-2012) University of Toronto - Center for Addiction and Mental Health Supervisor: Dr. José N. Nobrega Post-doctoral Fellow (2012-2016) University of Geneva - Department of Basic Neuroscience Supervisor: Dr. Christian Lüscher |
Meaghan Creed, PhD
Assistant Professor Principal Investigator meaghan.creed@wustl.edu I obtained my HBSc ad PhD at the University of Toronto. During my graduate work with Dr. José Nobrega, I studied deep brain stimulation (DBS) applied to the basal ganglia in models of movement disorders. For post-doctoral training, I moved to the lab of Dr. Christian Lüscher at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. Here, I used optogenetics and electrophysiology to understand how cocaine re-wires the brains' reward circuitry, and developed a novel protocol for DBS that reversed cocaine-evoked synaptic plasticity and abolished maladaptive behavior induced by drug exposure. In order to treat any condition, we must first understand its underlying pathology. To this end, research in the Creed lab applies a variety of approaches to understand how plasticity in the ventral basal ganglia mediates behaviors such as reward-seeking, risk tolerance, impulsivity and anhedonia. Our ultimate goal is to develop neuromodulation strategies that would regulate reward circuit function in models of mood, chronic pain and substance-use disorders, and could be used to normalize behavioral symptoms of these conditioned. |
Jessica Tooley - Laboratory Technician
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Jessica Tooley is from southern Wisconsin and attended St. Norbert College. She graduated with a BA in Psychology before joining the Creed Lab. Jessica has been performing behavioral assays with in vivo electrophysiology recordings in the lab, and plans to go on to graduate school to study neuroscience.
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Lauren Marconi - Laboratory Technician
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Lauren Marconi was born and raised in Philadelphia, PA and received a BA in Biology from Franklin and Marshall College. Her undergraduate research involved understanding the photosensitive properties and physiology of ion channels in adult sea urchin tube feet by using patch-clamp electrophysiology. Lauren plans to continue patching in the Creed Lab and to apply to graduate school for neuroscience or to a health professions school.
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Yvan Vachez - Postdoctoral Fellow
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Dr. Yvan Vachez is from Grenoble, France, where he graduated with a license in biology, a master degree in Neurosciences and Neurobiology. Yvan obtained his PhD from the Grenoble Institute for Neuroscience under the supervision of Dr. Sabrina Boulet and Dr. Sebastian Carnicella in 2018. In his thesis work, he studied the involvement of the dopamine system in the neuropsychiatric side effects of deep brain stimulation of the subthalamic nucleus in Parkinson’s disease.
In the Creed lab, Yvan plans to use electrophysiology, optogenetic manipulations and behavioural assays to optimize deep brain stimulation protocols for affective and addictive disorders. When he’s not in the lab, Yvan loves watching movies and playing tennis. |
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