April 15th, 2024: Massive congratulations to the laboratory for another grant has been selected for funding by the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program. Title: Genetic Mechanisms of Adolescent and Adult Nicotine Use T34IR8049, $1,149,961, 2024-2027
March 28th, 2024: 🎉 Big congratulations to Roshae Roberts for receiving the prestigious 2024 John W. Haycock Memorial Graduate Student Award from CNLM! 🏆 Your dedication and hard work truly shine through. Keep inspiring us all! 🌟
February 5th, 2024: Press Release: Latest funding support that our laboratory has received from the Tobacco-Related Disease Research program: Advancing Youth Nicotine Cessation Strategies.
February 4th, 2024: Congratulations to Dr. Lotfipour for finishing his 3rd ever marathon at Surf City Huntington Beach, California: 4 hr : 22 min : 54 sec, setting a personal record in the 1/2 marathon along the way: 1:43:43 (Pace: 7:54/mi).
December 21st, 2023: Massive congratulations to Bachhan Nguyenphan and Michelle Nguyen who have been awarded the 2023-2024 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Research Experience Fellowship.
November 27th, 2023: Welcome Yasamin Heydary, Pharmaceutical Sciences Ph.D. student, to our laboratory.
November 13th, 2023: Congratulations to our laboratory team for being selected by the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program for the pilot grant: “Mechanisms of a human 3’ UTR alpha6 nicotinic receptor polymorphism in adolescent nicotine use” (Grant ID T33IP6417): $637,870 (2024-2026)
October 15, 2023: Congratulations to Dr. Lotfipour for finishing his 2nd ever marathon at Long Beach, California: 3 hr : 58 min :34 sec.
June 23rd, 2023: Welcome Roshae Roberts, INP Ph.D. student, and Eugene Cota-Robles Fellow, to our laboratory.
June 17th, 2023: Congratulations to Drs. Diana Carreño and Michelle Ren for celebrating their doctoral hooding ceremony at the 2023 UC Irvine Commencement ceremonies!
June 13th, 2023: Project Scientist Series - Behavioral Neuroscience Testing Core position is now open for recruitment: https://recruit.ap.uci.edu/JPF08388
May 6th: 2023: Congratulations to Dr. Lotfipour for finishing his 1st ever marathon at at the OC Marathon: 4 hr : 13 min : 21 sec.
March 31st, 2023:Huge congratulations to NIDA T32 fellow, Emily Castro, for being selected as the graduate student honoree at the annual Latino Excellence and Achievement Dinner (LEAD) by the UCI School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences. We're super proud of your accomplishments and can't wait to see what you achieve next!
March 10th, 2023: Congratulations to Diana Carreño for getting her Ph.D.! Super proud of everything you have accomplished!!!
March 8th, 2023: Congratulations to Shahrdad Lotfipour and the laboratory for abstract presentation acceptance at the NIDA Genetics and Epigenetics Meeting on May 16th-17th on NIH’s Main Campus at Natcher Auditorium in Bethesda, MD.
March 8th, 2023: Welcome to our new undergraduate research members: Bachhan Nguyenphan & Raven Rogers!
March 2nd, 2023: Dr. Lotfipour is presenting at the 2023 Society for Nicotine and Tobacco Research Annual Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, on the topic of polysubstance use with nicotine and tobacco.
March 1st, 2023: Congratulations to Emily Castro, Shahrdad Lotfipour, and Frances Leslie on there new publication: Nicotine on the developing brain
February 5th, 2023: Congratulations to Dr. Lotfipour for finishing his 2nd ever half-marathon at Surf City in Huntington Beach, California: 1 hr: 56 min: 30 sec.
October 19th, 2022: Congratulations to Emily Castro and Dr. Anjelica Cárdenas for being featured as part of Hispanic Heritage Month for the UCI School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical Sciences.
October 4th, 2022: Congratulations to NIDA T32 fellow, Emily Castro, for advancing to candidacy in her Ph.D. studies!
September 15th, 2022: Welcome to our newest members of the laboratory: Michelle Nguyen, Undergraduate Student in Public Health Sciences, Tanuj Milind Raut, Ph.D. Student, Philosophy, Graduate Futures Program, Alicia Wells, UCI Medical Student, Jihyun Choi, UCI Undergraduate Student, David Georgy, UCI Undergraduate Student, & Daniela Ramos Rodriguez, UCI Undergraduate Student.
June 22nd, 2022: Congratulations to Emily Marie Castro for winning a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) T32 Graduate Fellowship for 2022-2023!
May 26th, 2022: Congratulations to Dr. Anjelica Cárdenas for winning the Dynamic Womxn Academic Achievement Award as a University of California, Irvine Graduate Student.
May 26th, 2022: Congratulations to Michelle Ren for winning the International Narcotics Research Conference (INRC) travel award, to attend the INRC conference in Valencia, Spain, on July 4th-8th, 2022.
May 19th, 2022: Congratulations to Antonella Facundo, Senior Pharmaceutical Sciences Undergraduate Student, for receiving the National Science Foundation (NSF) fellowship as a Research Experience for Post-Baccalaureate Student. Out of 10 applications received, Antonella was selected as the only applicant to be considered for the award. The award amount is equal to: $53,078. Thank you to Manuella Yassa, the CNLM, and the NSF for their support on this!
May 10th, 2022: Congratulations to Dr. Anjelica Cárdenas for successfully defending her Ph.D. as the first graduate student of our laboratory!
April 25th, 2022: Congratulations to Diana Carreño for winning the UCI Graduate Dean's Dissertation Fellowship! The fellowship is one of UC Irvine’s most distinguished! Well done!
April 24th, 2022: Our physical Lotfipour laboratory space @UCIrvine was used in this professional @natgeowild video, titled Something Bit Me. #SomethingBitMe. Congratulations to Dr. Isabel Algaze Gonzalez, for the feature focus! Check out the video trailer.
March 22nd, 2022: Congratulations to Diana Carreño for winning the Vertex Pharmaceutical Fellowship from the UCI School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences! The award is to support the next generation of researchers who show promise in drug discovery.
March 11th, 2022: Congratulations to Ford Foundation Fellow Anjelica Cardenas and colleagues on the recently accepted publication in the International Journal of Molecular Sciences, titled:Sex- and Genotype-Dependent Nicotine-Induced Behaviors in Adolescent Rats with a Human Polymorphism (rs2304297) in the 3’-UTR of the CHRNA6 Gene
Janary 13th, 2022: Congratulations to Jiaqi Li and Antonella Facundo for each winning a UC Irvine 2021-2022 Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP) Grant
December 30th, 2021: Congratulations to Diana Carreño for her abstract being selected by the chairs of the SRNT 2022 Annual Meeting as one of the top abstracts submitted! In recognition, SRNT provides a Registration Scholarship to give an oral presentation at the 2022 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD, USA.
November 23rd, 2021: Congratulations to Diana Carreño for being accepted to give an oral presentation at the 2022 Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD, USA.
October 14th, 2021: Congratulations to our senior graduate student in the lab, Ms. Anjelica Cardenas, for being selected as a recipient of a 2021 SFN Trainee Professional Development Award (TPDA).
September 28th, 2021: Congratulations to Amanda Borges for winning the NSF Travel Grant to attend the UC Irvine Center for Neurobiology Learning and Memory Spring Conference in 2022.
June 30th, 2021: Welcome Ryan Salcido, New Laboratory Assistant, Biola University Alumni
June 11th, 2021: Congratulations to Antonella Michelle Facundo for herSummer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) Grant/Fellowship
May 25th, 2021: Congratulations to Diana Carreno for advancing to candidacy!
May 3rd, 2021: Drs. Shahrdad Lotfipour and Marina Picciotto speak about teen vaping and the brain on MPR news! Here is the link to the interview: https://www.mprnews.org/episode/2021/05/03/the-effects-of-vaping-on-the-teen-brain
April 5th, 2021Huge congratulations to Diana Carreno for winning the Summer Inclusive Excellence Grant, in support of her work to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion at UC Irvine! Out of 145 applications for this award, she was one of the outstanding winners!
April 24th, 2021: Shahrdad Lotfipour is giving his first TEDx talk at the TEDxUCIrvine virtual event on April 24th, 2021, 12-2 PM, PDT. This event is free and open to everyone, and registration is available through Eventbrite. Check out "Zoom Out: General Admission". Watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Or7NeiJj2lw
March 23rd, 2021 Congratulations to Ms. Diana Carreno for being given an Honorable Mention for her Ford Foundation Fellowship!
March 23rd, 2021 Congratulations to Ms. Emily Castro for being given an Honorable Mention for her Ford Foundation and National Science Foundation fellowships!
March 11th, 2021Congratulations to Ms. Diana Carreno for being selected by the UCI School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences to receive the Latino Excellence and Achievement Award, in recognition of Graduate Student Excellence!
December 16th, 2020: Congratulations to Dr. Shahrdad Lotfipour for attaining a joint appointment in the UCI Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine (an Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program (INP) Graduate Student Recruitment Participating Department)
December 2nd, 2020: Congratulations to Michelle Ren for advancing to candidacy for her Ph.D. studies in the UCI Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
November 18th, 2020: Congratulations to Anjelica Cardenas for winning the 2020 SACNAS Student Presentation Awards! This was in recognition for Anjelica’s communication skills and command of the research topic, which were highlighted as exemplary.
“SACNAS is a society of scientists dedicated to fostering the success of Chicano/Hispanic and Native American scientists—from college students to professionals—to attain advanced degrees, careers, and positions of leadership in science.”
September 26th, 2020: Congratulations to Emily Marie Castro for winning the NIH-IMSD Award for Graduate Studies for 2020-2021!
July 13th, 2020: Congratulations Drs. Shahrdad Lotfipour (UCI Departments of Emergency Medicine / Pharmaceutical Sciences) and Frances Leslie (UCI Departments of Pharmaceutical Sciences / Anatomy and Neurobiology) for being part of a team of Investigators who won a $3,629,566.00 grant from the National Institutes of Health. As part of a subcontract R01 grant, the UCI investigators will be awarded approximately $577,771 in total funds for their leadership in the project during a five year period: 7/15/2020-7/14/2025. More information about the award is provided below:
Grant Title: Comparative neurobehavioral pharmacology of combusted and noncombusted tobacco products
Grant Number: 1 R01 DA048899-01A1
Subcontract Proposal #: 215136
Support Requested: $577,771
Period of Support: 7/15/2020-7/14/2025
UCI Subcontract Co-PI's: Assistant ProfessorShahrdad Lotfipour, Ph.D. and Professor Frances Leslie, Ph.D.
NIH R01 Grant PI: Mark Lesage (PI) and Andy Harris (Co-PI) - Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute, Departments of Medicine and Psychology, University of Minnesota
Total Funding Requested in Grant: $3,629,566.00
June 18th, 2020: Welcome L. Diana Carreño, graduate student in the UCI Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, to the Lotfipour Laboratory!
June 16th, 2020: Congratulations to Michelle Ren for winning the 2020-2021 NIDA T32 pre-doctoral fellowship!
June 3rd, 2020: Congratulations to the Lotfipour Laboratory for winning the University of California Office of the President / Tobacco Related Disease Research Program Pilot Grant, titled: Functional Role of a Human 3’UTR Polymorphism in the Alpha6 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Subunit in Adolescent Nicotine Seeking
April 20th, 2020: Congratulations to Anjelica Mia Cardenas for winning the 2020-2021 UC President’s Pre-Professoriate Fellowship (PPPF)
January 9th, 2020: Congratulations to Jasmine K. Sran, Anthony Chang, Jiaqi Li, Ashwin Shyam and Sanam Ahadi from the Lotfipour Laboratory on their Undergraduate Research Opportunities Grants.
August 27th, 2019: University of California Irvine (UCI) Small Capitalization Grant Awarded ($1.667 million) for the Development of the First Ever Behavioral Neuroscience Testing Core at UCI in the Basement of the Biological Sciences 3 Facility. The Grant Was Awarded In Collaboration Between Drs. Shahrdad Lotfipour (Department of Emergency Medicine/Pharmaceutical Sciences), Mike Yassa (Director of the Center for Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, CNLM), Jennifer Prescher (Professor of Chemistry/Pharmaceutical Sciences), and Claire Lindsell (Director of the University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR)), with support provided from the UCI Office of Research (OoR, Vice Chancellor for Research Pramod Khargonekar), CNLM, ULAR (Jeff Chau/Claire Lindsell), UCI School of Medicine (Vice Dean of Research Suzanne Sandmeyer/Dean Michael Stamos), and the School of Biological Sciences (Dean Frank LaFerla).
May 23, 2019: Congratulations to Anjelica Cardenas, 3rd Year Graduate Student and Ford Fellow, Who Advanced to Ph.D. Candidacy
May 22, 2019: Gut Feelings, New Venture Competition Final Presentation, Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, UCI Paul Merage School of Business: Lee CJ, Sran JK, Yin Y, Ahadi S, Ren M.
May 1st, 2019: Cardenas A, Lotfipour S., Role of a 3’utr polymorphism (rs2304297) in the human alpha 6 nicotinic receptor subunit gene in adolescent substance use, ICTS Translational Science Research Day Poster Presentation
March 1, 2019: Lotfipour Laboratory Honored With Excellence in Research Lab Safety at the University of California, Irvine, Environmental Health & Safety
February 2019: Shahrdad Lotfipour Becomes Co-Director of the University of California Irvine School of Medicine Excellence in Research Program
January 2019: Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program, Six Awarded Grants for Undergraduate Research, University of California, Irvine: 1. Lee CJ, Sran JK, Yin Y, 2. Elabd M. 3. Nguyen HC. 4. Chang J. 5. Mejia AS. 6. Chang A
January 2019: Shahrdad Lotfipour Promoted to Assistant Professor, In-Line Tenure Track, Step V, University of California, Irvine
January 28 - February 2, 2019:Winter Conference on Brain Research, Snowmass, CO. Translational studies on the impacts of developmental nicotine exposure on adolescent and adult learning, memory and addiction. Panel Presentation With: Kay Elizabeth Linker (Presenter, Frances Leslie Laboratory, UCI), Shahrdad Lotfipour (Chair/Presenter, UCI), Thomas Gould (Presenter, Penn State College of Health and Human Development), Alexey Ostroumov (Presenter, John Dani Laboratory, University of Pennsylvania).
November 3rd – 7th, 2018: Society for Neuroscience. San Diego, CA. Cardenas A, Lotfipour S. (2018) Role of a 3’utr polymorphism (rs2304297) in the human alpha 6 nicotinic receptor subunit gene in adolescent substance use.
November 3rd – 7th, 2018: Society for Neuroscience. San Diego, CA. Ren M, Chang J, Lotfipour S. (2018). CRISPR/Cas9 knockdown of the alpha 6 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor subunit in the adolescent rat brain.
June 16th-19th. 2018: International College of Neuropsychopharmacology, World Congress, Vienna, Austria. Maternal Nicotine's Effects on Learning and Memory in Adolescent Mice. Mojica C, Yu Bai, Lotfipour S.
June 16th-19th. 2018:International College of Neuropsychopharmacology, World Congress, Vienna, Austria. Nicotine Gateway Effects Enhance Adolescent Alcohol Intake and Preference in Mice. Cardenas A, Yin Y, Liu S, Lotfipour S.
May 19th, 2018: Yu Bai presents his work on the "Effects of Gestational Nicotine Exposure on the Striatum of Adolescent Offspring" at the Undergraduate Research Symposium poster and oral presentation @ 8:30 AM and 1:30 PM - Moss Cove A, UCI Student Center, *Selected as a post-symposium highlights poster for additional viewing at the UC Irvine administration building
May 19th, 2018: Hellen C. Nguyen, Yuexi Yin and Alejandra Saenz present their work on the "Sex-Dependent Effect of Gestational Nicotine Exposure on the Developing Brain" at the Undergraduate Research Symposium poster and oral presentation @ 8:30 AM and 1:30 PM - Moss Cove A, UCI Student Center, *Selected as a post-symposium highlights poster for additional viewing at the UC Irvine administration building
May 19th, 2018: Justina Chang presents her work on the "Investigation of ⍺6 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Subunit during Adolescence and its Effects on Psychostimulant Use" at the Undergraduate Research Symposium poster presentation @ 1:30 PM - UCI Student Center, *Selected as a post-symposium highlights poster for additional viewing at the UC Irvine administration building
May 1st, 2018: Congratulations to Yuexi Yin and Yu Bai for attaining Excellence in Research in the Biological Sciences. Their final individual papers will be published in the online Journal of Undergraduate Research in the Biological Sciences, 2017-2018.
March 28th, 2018: Congratulations to Anjelica Cardenas for attaining the Ford Foundation Predoctoral Fellowship, a three-year award administered by the Fellowships Office of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. The selection is based on individuals who show: 'scholarly competence as well as the promise for future achievement as a scholar, researcher, and teacher in an institution of higher education.'
