University of Mississippi Medical Center
Jackson, MS
Sally L. Huskinson, PhD., Associate Professor in the Division of Neurobiology and Behavior Research within the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center.
I am a basic researcher who studies the behavioral pharmacology of substance use disorders using primarily nonhuman primates. My specific research interests are in the role of environmental factors, like uncertainty, in drug-taking behavior and the role of polysubstance use in benzodiazepine reinforcement and anxiolysis. For as long as I can remember, I have been interested in psychoactive substances and behavior. I began my research training in behavioral pharmacology as an undergraduate at Idaho State University in Dr. Erin Rasmussen’s laboratory. After earning my bachelor’s degree in 2008, I began graduate training in psychology with an emphasis in behavior analysis at West Virginia University (WVU) with Dr. Karen Anderson’s mentorship. The doctoral program had a strong emphasis on training basic researchers in the experimental analysis of behavior and experimental design. While in graduate school, I obtained expertise in the use of rodent models of impulsive choice and effects of different substances on impulsivity. After receiving my graduate degree in 2012, I wanted to do a postdoctoral fellowship that would provide more training in pharmacology and more specifically, in animal models of substance use disorder using intravenous drug self-administration procedures. In 2012, I began my postdoctoral training at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC), originally with the supervision of William Woolverton, Ph.D. Dr. Woolverton passed away in June 2013, and I continued my training at UMMC with James Rowlett, Ph.D. and Kevin Freeman, Ph.D. During my postdoctoral fellowship I received an individual NRSA for postdoctoral fellows (F32 DA037619) from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). In September of 2014, I was promoted to Instructor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, and I used the data collected as a part of my NRSA to apply for my first R01 grant to continue to study how uncertainty in the environment contributes to worsened drug-taking behavior in rhesus monkeys. I was awarded this application (R01 DA045011), and shortly after receiving a notice of award from NIDA, I was promoted in February of 2018 to Assistant Professor, tenure track. During my time at UMMC, I also developed an interest in benzodiazepine misuse, and in 2022, I was awarded my second R01 (DA054177) from NIDA to evaluate benzodiazepine reinforcement in the context of polysubstance use, also using rhesus monkeys. I have been continuously funded by NIH since 2014 and am currently funded through 2027. In addition to my own grants, I serve as co-investigator on two R01 grants, one with Dr. Kevin Freeman (PI) to study abuse deterrent formulations for prescription drugs (R01 DA039167), and one with Dr. James Rowlett (PI) to study anxiolytic effects and abuse of benzodiazepine receptor ligands (R01 DA011792). Finally, in July of 2023, I was promoted to Associate Professor.
Monday, December 4, 2023
10:30 AM – 11:45 AM ET