Erin S. Calipari (born February 18, 1987)[1] is an Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences. Calipari looks to understand the brain circuitry that is used for adaptive and maladaptive processes in reward, associative learning and motivation.

Erin Calipari
Born (1987-02-18) February 18, 1987 (age 37)
Alma materWhite Station High School
University of Massachusetts Amherst
Scientific career
FieldsPharmacology
InstitutionsVanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Doctoral advisorSara Jones
WebsiteCalipari Lab

Early life and education

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Calipari was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the oldest daughter of basketball coach John Calipari and Ellen Calipari.[2] Calipari took part in athletics while attending White Station High School. She played softball, basketball and hockey. She was part of the first generation in her family to intend to become an academic.[3] Calipari attended University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she studied biology and played basketball for the UMass Minutewomen.[4] Her contribution in her freshman season was signified by her debut, when she played one minute of game action against Siena in November. She then used the next two months to double her playing time, successfully playing one minute against Xavier in February of 2006. Her sophomore season reflected vast improvement, when she totaled 13 minutes, three points, two rebounds, and one assist over several months. Her most impactful moment was hitting a desperation three-point shot against Rhode Island with only 8 seconds left, clinching a 79-49 victory.[5] Calipari was a graduate student at Wake Forest University, where she earned a doctorate in neuropharmacology under the supervision of Sara Jones.[6] She used analytical chemistry and operant behavior studies to understand how dopamine kinetics are impacted by drug self-administration.[3] Calipari was a postdoctoral research associate in a genetics laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai.[7][8] She focused on how to understand neural circuit activity and transcriptional programs.[3]

Research and career

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Calipari joined Vanderbilt University in 2017 as part of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research.[9][10] She works on the brain circuitry that is used for adaptive and maladaptive neurological processes including reward, associative learning and motivation, and how these are associated with psychiatric disease.[7][11][10] In Tennessee, where Calipari grew up, there are more prescriptions for opioids than there are people living in the state.[7]

Calipari believes that drug addiction is a decision-making disease: people make decisions to choose to invest in drugs over other expenses. She looks at which parts of the brain are involved with making decisions, and how to reprogram them to make other choices.[7] Her lab uses fibre photometry which monitors neural activity via changes in calcium (calcium imaging) and neurotransmitter activity, in subpopulations of neurons using an optical fiber.[12] They also employ other neurophotometric and neurochemical methods such as optogenetics, and fast-scan cyclic voltammetry.[12] She is interested in why women are vulnerable to drug addiction, and how the immune system could be used to fight the opioid epidemic.[13][14] She believes that through the platform of sport it is possible to communicate the dangers of drug addiction.[15][16]

While women are more susceptible to drug addiction, the majority of addiction studies are focused on men.[17] This means that medication development has focused on correcting addiction in men, and may explain why women do not respond to treatment in the same way as men.[17] Calipari found that when hormones related to fertility are high, women make stronger associations to clues in their environment and more likely to seek rewards, which makes them more prone to drug addiction and relapse.[7][17][18] Her research can be used by treatment centers to educate women about their decision-making mechanisms.[17]

Selected publications

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  • López, Alberto J.; Siciliano, Cody A.; Calipari, Erin S. (2019). "Activity-Dependent Epigenetic Remodeling in Cocaine Use Disorder". Substance Use Disorders. Handbook of Experimental Pharmacology. Vol. 258. pp. 231–263. doi:10.1007/164_2019_257. ISBN 978-3-030-33678-3. PMID 31628597. S2CID 204788055.
  • Brady, Lillian J.; Hofford, Rebecca S.; Tat, Jennifer; Calipari, Erin S.; Kiraly, Drew D. (2019). "Granulocyte-Colony Stimulating Factor Alters the Pharmacodynamic Properties of Cocaine in Female Mice". ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 10 (10): 4213–4220. doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00309. PMC 7328281. PMID 31479229.
  • Fakira, Amanda K.; Peck, Emily G.; Liu, Yutong; Lueptow, Lindsay M.; Trimbake, Nikita A.; Han, Ming-Hu; Calipari, Erin S.; Devi, Lakshmi A. (2019). "The role of the neuropeptide PEN receptor, GPR83, in the reward pathway: Relationship to sex-differences". Neuropharmacology. 157: 107666. doi:10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.107666. PMC 6677605. PMID 31199956.
  • Zhang, Hongxing; Chaudhury, Dipesh; Nectow, Alexander R.; Friedman, Allyson K.; Zhang, Song; Juarez, Barbara; Liu, He; Pfau, Madeline L.; Aleyasin, Hossein; Jiang, Cheng; Crumiller, Marshall; Calipari, Erin S.; Ku, Stacy M.; Morel, Carole; Tzavaras, Nikos; Montgomery, Sarah E.; He, Michelle; Salton, Stephen R.; Russo, Scott J.; Nestler, Eric J.; Friedman, Jeffrey M.; Cao, Jun-Li; Han, Ming-Hu (2019). "α1- and β3-Adrenergic Receptor–Mediated Mesolimbic Homeostatic Plasticity Confers Resilience to Social Stress in Susceptible Mice". Biological Psychiatry. 85 (3): 226–236. doi:10.1016/j.biopsych.2018.08.020. PMC 6800029. PMID 30336931.

Personal life

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Calpari’s father is John Calipari, a college basketball coach.[19][20]

References

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  1. ^ "Erin Calipari - Women's Basketball". University of Massachusetts Athletics. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved January 9, 2023.
  2. ^ Dwyer, Danielle (April 4, 2015). "Erin Calipari, John's Daughter: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c Lindsley, Craig W. (June 19, 2019). "NeuroChat with Professor Erin Calipari". ACS Chemical Neuroscience. 10 (6): 2623–2624. doi:10.1021/acschemneuro.9b00181.
  4. ^ "2019-20 Women's Basketball Roster". University of Massachusetts Athletics. Archived from the original on June 28, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  5. ^ "2006-07 Women's Basketball Roster". University of Massachusetts Athletics. Archived from the original on January 9, 2023. Retrieved May 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "Calipari Defended Dissertation on 9/30 – Congrats! | Neuroscience PhD at Wake Forest University - News Archive". neuroscience.graduate.wfu.edu. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  7. ^ a b c d e "Meet the Calipari who holds court at Vanderbilt lab". The Tennessean. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  8. ^ "Neuroscience Department - Nestler's Team". neuroscience.mssm.edu. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  9. ^ MacMillan, Leigh. "New faculty: Erin Calipari, assistant professor of pharmacology". Vanderbilt University. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  10. ^ a b "Vanderbilt University School of Medicine". wag.app.vanderbilt.edu. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  11. ^ Vanderbilt University (January 16, 2019), Erin Calipari Full Interview, retrieved July 27, 2019
  12. ^ a b "Techniques". Calipari Lab. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  13. ^ Callahan, Carolyn (February 7, 2019). "Coach Cal's oldest daughter uses unique position to reach, educate in battle against opioid epidemic". WLKY. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  14. ^ "Your Immune System Could Aid Fight Against Opioid Addiction". from Technology Networks. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  15. ^ "Q&A With Erin Calipari". UKNow. March 7, 2019. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  16. ^ Communications, Vanderbilt Division of. "The Tennessean: Meet the Calipari who holds court at Vanderbilt lab". Vanderbilt University. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  17. ^ a b c d "Women's hormones play role in drug addiction, higher relapse rates: Attention drawn to lack of female-specific research". ScienceDaily. Archived from the original on July 27, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
  18. ^ Johnson, Amy R.; Thibeault, Kimberly C.; Lopez, Alberto J.; Peck, Emily G.; Sands, L. Paul; Sanders, Christina M.; Kutlu, Munir Gunes; Calipari, Erin S. (January 23, 2019). "Cues play a critical role in estrous cycle-dependent enhancement of cocaine reinforcement". Neuropsychopharmacology. 44 (7): 1189–1197. doi:10.1038/s41386-019-0320-0. ISSN 0893-133X. PMC 6785030. PMID 30728447.
  19. ^ Dwyer, Danielle (April 4, 2015). "Erin Calipari, John's Daughter: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Archived from the original on July 28, 2019. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
  20. ^ Calipari, Erin. "@UKCoachCalipari may not be perfect, but at least he doesn't blame me and @MeganCalipari when he's bad at his job". Twitter. Archived from the original on February 19, 2021. Retrieved March 8, 2021.
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