Congrats to lab postdoc Dr. Ivy Hoang on being awarded an F32 NRSA from NIH/NIDA! Ivy's project aims to answer how the population of CCK neurons in the BNST links sleep homeostasis, drug memories, and cocaine seeking. So proud of her, and so thrilled to see this work funded.

Beautiful new article "Neurobiology of negative reinforcement as a driving force in alcohol addiction" by Vendruscolo & Koob. Been reading these reviews for 20yrs- this might be the first time that Medial & Lateral BNST received separate labels in the circuit figure! www.cell.com/neuron/fullt...

NINDS has discontinued our F32 mechanism. All previously submitted applications will proceed as normal. grants.nih.gov/grants/guide...

The Giardino Lab at Stanford is hiring a full-time post-bacc Research Assistant! If you know someone who is passionate about research and want to work at the intersection of stress, addiction, and sleep/wake neurobiology, have them apply here. careersearch.stanford.edu/jobs/life-sc...

Here are the Alcohol GRC awardees-Congrats!

New preprint from the lab! We identified Vipr2-expressing BNST neurons as a distinct subpopulation of the oval nucleus that promotes feeding, is activated by food restriction, is non-overlapping with appetite-suppressing PKC delta neurons, and projects to PSTN & PVN hypothalamic feeding centers.

bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · 9mo ago

A Distinct Subpopulation of Extended Amygdala Neurons Drives Food Intake https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.07.685941v1

A Distinct Subpopulation of Extended Amygdala Neurons Drives Food Intake https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.11.07.685941v1

Excited to share new research from my lab in final published form! By deleting hypocretin (orexin) receptors from CRF neurons, we uncovered neuropeptide mechanisms linking alcohol drinking and negative emotional hyperarousal through BNST neuronal excitability. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🚨 Please RT! We’re recruiting a motivated postdoc to dissect the neurocircuits of affective pain. Expertise in behavioral models of pain/SUDs, stereotaxy, microscopy, opto/chemogenetics, or fiber photometry encouraged. Apply 👉 recruit.apo.ucla.edu/JPF10647 #Neuroscience #Postdoc

Postdoctoral Research Position

University of California, Los Angeles is hiring. Apply now!

recruit.apo.ucla.edu

Our work on mind-boggling CRF-BNST neurons is out! 🥳 🔹Sex & estrous matter: CRF neurons⬇️anxious arousal (yup) after unpredictable fear in diestrus👧not👦 🔹👧show⬆️contextual fear, independent of CRF/estrous ✨Anxiety-potentiated startle🟰👍 readout in🚶‍♀️&🐀 www.biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com/article/S000...

Activity of corticotropin-releasing factor neurons in the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis reduces anxiety-potentiated startle in female rats in an estrous phase-dependent manner

The prevalence of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and anxiety disorders is higher in women than men. The severity of hallmark symptoms including hypervigilance and fear reactivity to unpredictab...

biologicalpsychiatryjournal.com

Excited to share our new preprint! www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1... Divergent modulation of dopaminergic neurons by hypocretin/orexin receptors-1 and -2 shapes dopaminergic cell activity and socio-emotional behavior Tzanoulinou et al Supported by @snsf.ch

We’re excited to share our new preprint from the lab! PhD student @armorningstar.bsky.social demonstrated how Early Life Stress shapes sex-specific vulnerability to alcohol behavioral sensitivity, alcohol drinking, and alcohol's effects on social behaviors in mice.

bioRxiv Neuroscience@biorxiv-neursci.bsky.social · last yr.

Early life stress modulates behavioral sensitivity to alcohol and promotes escalation of alcohol drinking https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.27.661986v1

Early life stress modulates behavioral sensitivity to alcohol and promotes escalation of alcohol drinking https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2025.06.27.661986v1

Honored to give a seminar at NIH/NIDA IRP in Baltimore this week and learn about the incredible research being done there by so many brilliant, diverse people to advance neuroscience and addiction treatment. Immense respect for all the NIH scientists & staff, working under such unfair circumstances

new paper out in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: a ‘reverse translational‘ model of TMS for Alcohol Use Disorder — we know so little about which TMS parameters will be best to reduce drinking — so, why not leverage mice to test things out rapidly & cheaply? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Developing a reverse translational model of low-intensity rTMS in alcohol use disorder: The influence of theta burst stimulation protocols on binge alcohol drinking in mice

Repetitive Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (rTMS) is a promising treatment tool for Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD). A challenge facing the field is that…

sciencedirect.com

Thrilled to contribute to this collaboration with the McNerney lab, @danmccalley.bsky.social, Claudia Padula, and team - where we used distinct TMS neuromodulation protocols to observe sex-specific impacts on binge alcohol drinking in mice! #TranscranialMagneticStimulation

dan mccalley@danmccalley.bsky.social · last yr.

new paper out in Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation: a ‘reverse translational‘ model of TMS for Alcohol Use Disorder — we know so little about which TMS parameters will be best to reduce drinking — so, why not leverage mice to test things out rapidly & cheaply? www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Check out our new paper lead by superstars Amy Pearl and Xavier Maddern in @naturecomms.bsky.social . We show a sex specific role for ghrelin signalling in the Edinger Westphal nucleus driving binge drinking. Thanks to all those involved www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Midbrain ghrelin receptor signalling regulates binge drinking in a sex specific manner - Nature Communications

Binge drinking is a rising issue in women, yet the underlying neurobiology remains underexplored. Here authors show the Edinger-Westphal (EWcp) peptidergic neurons as a critical regulator of binge dri...

nature.com

So proud of the Giardino lab members #StandUpForScience @standupforscience.bsky.social

an excellent interview with an excellent science friend!

Stories of WiN@storiesofwin.bsky.social · last yr.

Our next profile is here! Dr. Monique Smith (@moeneuro.bsky.social) studies the neural mechanisms of empathy. Follow the link below to learn more! www.storiesofwin.org/profiles/202... #StoriesOfWiN #WomenInNeuroscience

𝗪𝗵𝘆 𝗱𝗼 𝗮𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘁𝗵𝗲𝘁𝗶𝗰𝘀 𝗵𝗮𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝘅𝗶𝗼𝗹𝗶𝘁𝗶𝗰 𝗲𝗳𝗳𝗲𝗰𝘁𝘀? One reason might be that the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis suppresses anxiety. (Btw this region is as important as the amygdala in anxiety, likely more). (h/t @ajshackman.bsky.social) #neuroscience #neuroskyence doi.org/10.1016/j.ce...

Recruiting a postdoc! State-dependent regulation of social behavior & social group dynamics using in vivo deep brain calcium imaging, machine learning, etc... all the circuit tools. Applicants can email me directly if interested and apply here: academicjobsonline.org/ajo/jobs/29799.

My heart breaks daily for those who started careers in the pandemic & survived 5 years of heart wrenching loss and uncertainty to now be faced with loss and uncertainty. This time, the uncertainty is driven by pure evil and is 💯 unnecessary. That's why we must all @standupforscience.bsky.social

Lydia Jennings, PhD@1nativesoilnerd.bsky.social · last yr.

Graduating during the pandemic slowed down my process and is part of why I did two postdocs. Now as a first year faculty, all the federal grants are frozen. I love the work I do but this has all of us questioning how much www.science.org/content/arti...

Follow-up:

Will Giardino@willgiardino.bsky.social · last yr.

For anyone who thinks that private philanthropy is going to step in and fill the void left by NIH, here's a preview of how that's going to work out: "Thank you for your recent application submission... We received 146 applications in total, about 3 times more than the previous year."

First they came for my diversity grant, and I did not freak out - because I still had an R01. Then they paused federal funding, and I did not freak out - because I had a start up package with central funds. Then they cut indirect costs, and there was no research program left to freak out over

There are a huge # of scientists who are rapidly reconsidering their futures right now, and their ability to move on careerwise might be contingent on a milestone (paper, committee approval) that you have a direct role in. One small way to help is to consider the impact of that responsibility.

As a leader in my lab & various initiatives, I’ve made my stance clear....my commitment to DEI is unwavering. I won’t back down or shy away, even as others do. I’ll continue to uphold and advocate for these values.

For anyone who thinks that private philanthropy is going to step in and fill the void left by NIH, here's a preview of how that's going to work out: "Thank you for your recent application submission... We received 146 applications in total, about 3 times more than the previous year."

Open (public) sessions of NIDA and NIAAA Advisory council meetings scheduled for this week are both cancelled. Keep making calls folks. nida.nih.gov/about-nida/a...