Dorit Ron, PhD

Professor In Residence
Department of Neurology
+1 415 502-7068
Research Description: 

Dr. Ron is a Professor in the Department of Neurology at UCSF, and is a member of the Neuroscience Graduate Program. She is also the Endowed Chair in Cell Biology of Addiction in Neurology at UCSF, the Director for a P50 NIH-NIAAA Center Grant. She is a recipient of several NIH RO1 and DOD grant awards. In 2013, Dr. Ron received and NIH MERIT. She has served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of Neuroscience and is currently a reviewing editor for Addiction Biology, the Alcohol Journal, as well as a field editor for Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Dr. Ron’s research focuses on the molecular neurobiology of alcohol use disorders for which her laboratory uses molecular, and rodent behavior approaches. Dr. Ron’s areas of expertise are: molecular neuroscience, signal transduction, neurobiology of addiction and psychiatric disorders. Over the years the Ron lab has made numerous major contributions to the field of addiction and identified novel targets that could potentially be developed as therapeutics to treat alcohol addiction. Several of the studies resulted in UCSF press releases, which received the attention of both the scientific community and the general public.

Primary Thematic Area: 
Neurobiology
Secondary Thematic Area: 
Cancer Biology & Cell Signaling
Research Summary: 
Molecular neurobiology of drug addiction
Mentorship Development: 

10/20/20    Gathering in Community: a Training for Faculty and Staff    
9/11/20    Mentoring Across Differences
2/18/21    Three Truths and Three Tries: Facing and Overcoming Critical Social Justice Challenges at the Micro, Mezzo, and Macro Levels    

Websites

Featured Publications: 

Protein tyrosine phosphatase a in the dorsomedial striatum promotes excessive ethanol-drinking behaviors.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Ben Hamida S, Darcq E, Wang J, Wu S, Phamluong K, Kharazia V, Ron D

Disruption of alcohol-related memories by mTORC1 inhibition prevents relapse.

Nature neuroscience

Barak S, Liu F, Ben Hamida S, Yowell QV, Neasta J, Kharazia V, Janak PH, Ron D

Ethanol-mediated facilitation of AMPA receptor function in the dorsomedial striatum: implications for alcohol drinking behavior.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Wang J, Ben Hamida S, Darcq E, Zhu W, Gibb SL, Lanfranco MF, Carnicella S, Ron D

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor reverses alcohol-induced allostasis of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system: implications for alcohol reward and seeking.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Barak S, Carnicella S, Yowell QV, Ron D

AKT signaling pathway in the nucleus accumbens mediates excessive alcohol drinking behaviors.

Biological psychiatry

Neasta J, Ben Hamida S, Yowell QV, Carnicella S, Ron D

Ethanol-mediated facilitation of AMPA receptor function in the dorsomedial striatum: implications for alcohol drinking behavior.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Wang J, Ben Hamida S, Darcq E, Zhu W, Gibb SL, Lanfranco MF, Carnicella S, Ron D

Glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor reverses alcohol-induced allostasis of the mesolimbic dopaminergic system: implications for alcohol reward and seeking.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Barak S, Carnicella S, Yowell QV, Ron D

AKT signaling pathway in the nucleus accumbens mediates excessive alcohol drinking behaviors.

Biological psychiatry

Neasta J, Ben Hamida S, Yowell QV, Carnicella S, Ron D

Lyn kinase regulates mesolimbic dopamine release: implication for alcohol reward.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Gibb SL, Jeanblanc J, Barak S, Yowell QV, Yaka R, Ron D

Role for mammalian target of rapamycin complex 1 signaling in neuroadaptations underlying alcohol-related disorders.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Neasta J, Ben Hamida S, Yowell Q, Carnicella S, Ron D

Nucleus accumbens-derived glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor is a retrograde enhancer of dopaminergic tone in the mesocorticolimbic system.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Wang J, Carnicella S, Ahmadiantehrani S, He DY, Barak S, Kharazia V, Ben Hamida S, Zapata A, Shippenberg TS, Ron D

Long-lasting adaptations of the NR2B-containing NMDA receptors in the dorsomedial striatum play a crucial role in alcohol consumption and relapse.

The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience

Wang J, Lanfranco MF, Gibb SL, Yowell QV, Carnicella S, Ron D