News
2024
March – Dr. Miguel Lujan is awarded a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from NIDA/NIH, kudos!
2023
November – Miguel co-chairs a minisymposium at the Society for Neuroscience conference in D.C.
November – Reana, Fiorella, and Sean present posters at the SFN conference.
October – Dr. Miguel Lujan wins the 2023 Postdoctoral Fellow Excellence in Research Award. Congrats!
August – Dr. Lujan chairs a symposium on neural markers of drug addiction at the EBPS conference in Mannheim, Germany.
August – Dr. Fredy Castro Alvarez joins the Cheer Lab as a postdoctoral fellow. Welcome!
July – Dr. Cheer is invited to present a talk at GRC on the role of endocannabinoids in fear avoidance.
July – Dr. Lujan wins best poster at the GRC – Cannabinoid Function in the CNS conference in Castelldefels, Spain.
June – Dr. Cheer becomes a mentor in the CURA program.
June – Antonio publishes a paper in Experimental Neurology.
June – Dr. Lujan is lead author on a paper in Cell Reports with Reana and lab alumni Drs. Engi, Zhang, and Zlebnik.
May – Ms. Erin McDonnell joins the Cheer lab as a research technician. Welcome!
April – Dr. Cheer is an invited speaker in the IBIO Seminar at his alma mater, Universidad de los Andes.
April – Dr. Miguel Lujan wins best poster at the COLNE international seminar in Bogota, Columbia.
March – Dr. Joe Cheer invited to present a symposium at the ACNP conference in December.
2022
September – Mrs. Ella Rocha joins the Cheer Lab as a research technician. Welcome!
March – Dr. Joe Cheer is interviewed by Quanta Magazine regarding a recent study characterizing dopamine as a modulator of movement initiation.
2021
November – Drs. Lujan and Zhang (whose abstract was selected for a talk) present their data at the 2021 Cannabinoid GRC, way to go!
October – Mrs. Rebecca Howell joins the Cheer Lab as a rotation M.D./Ph.D. student; welcome!
August – Drs. Dan Covey and Miguel Lujan publish a paper in the Journal of Neuroscience, congrats!
August – Mr. Antonio Figueiredo officially joins the Cheer Lab as a Ph.D. student. Welcome back Antonio!
July – The Cheer Lab is awarded an exploratory R21 grant with Dr. Alex Medina to establish a new animal model of early life THC exposure.
June – The Cheer Lab is awarded a 5-year competitive renewal R01 from NIDA, in collaboration with Dr. Mary Kay Lobo and Dr. Carlos Paladini.
May – The Cheer Lab recruits Reana Young-Morrison as a research technician. Welcome!
May – The Cheer Lab published a paper with lab alumna Drs Zlebnik and Wenzel as corresponding authors, congratulations!
April – Dr. Natalie Zlebnik accepts a position within the medical school at the University of California, Riverside. Way to go!
March – The Cheer Lab publishes a TINS review in collaboration with Dr. Rafaella Tonini.
March – Mr. Cody Scholtens joins the Cheer lab for a 3-month research rotation, welcome!
2020
December – Ms. Jewel White joins the Cheer lab for a 3-month research rotation, welcome!
November – The Cheer Lab recruits a new technician, welcome Sean!
October – Dr. Lan-Yuan Zhang, from Peking University (China), joins the lab as a postdoctoral fellow, welcome!
October – Dr. Miguel Lujan officially re-joins the Cheer Lab as a postdoctoral fellow, welcome back!
October – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper with lab alum Dr. Erik Oleson.
September – Dr. Sonia Aroni from the Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper with Dr. Dennis Sparta.
September – Dr. Miguel Lujan from the Cheer Lab publishes a couple of papers with Dr. Miriam Melis from the University of Cagliari in Italy
August – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper on social reinforcement learning with Dr. Matt Roesch.
June – Laboratory operations resume as the UMSOM enters phase 1 (25% occupancy).
June – Dr. Dan Covey starts his faculty position at the Lovelace Institute and the University of New Mexico, congratulations!
March – Lab operations close due to COVID-19.
February- Dr. Sheila Engi, from the Federal University of Sao Paulo (Brazil), joins the lab for 1 year as a visiting postdoctoral fellow, welcome!
February – Dr. Joe Cheer presents at the AAAS Anual Meeting in Seattle.
January – Dr. Joe Cheer gives an invited seminar at the Douglas Mental Health University Institute in Montreal, Canada.
January – Mr. Mario Antonazzo, from the University of the Basque Country (Spain), joins the lab for 6 months as a visiting graduate scholar, welcome!
January – Acting as chair of the departmental faculty search committee, Dr. Joe Cheer successfully participates in the recruitment of Drs Marco Venniro (Assistant Professor) and Michy Kelly (Associate Professor).
January – Drs Joe Cheer and Mary Kay Lobo secure Dean’s office funding to establish a center focusing on substance use in pregnancy (SUP; with a focus on cannabinoids and opioids).
2019
October – Dr. Joe Cheer is interviewed by Well+Good with regards to the rise in popularity of the phytocannabinoid product CBD.
October – UMSOM issues a press release on our prenatal THC paper.
October – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper on the enduring effects of prenatal THC exposure, with researchers from Italy and Hungary.
October – Dr. Natalie Zlebnik receives the GPILS Postdoctoral Fellow Excellence in Mentorship Award, congratulations!
September – Dr. Joe Cheer serves as the chair of the department’s faculty search committee.
September – Dr. Joe Cheer gives a talk for the program in neuroscience at St Mary’s College of Maryland.
September – Dr. Joe Cheer gives the Distinguished Biomedical Lecture at the Frank Reidy Center of Bioelectrics from Old Dominion University.
August – Dr. Joe Cheer teaches at the CSHL course on addiction in Long Island, NY.
July – Drs Natalie Zlebnik and Joe Cheer present a poster and a plenary lecture, respectively, at the cannabinoid GRC in Casteldefells, Spain.
July – Dr. Joe Cheer gives a talk at the 20th Annual ICRS meeting in Bethesda, MD.
July – Dr. Joe Cheer is interviewed by PBS Newshour with regards to the rise in popularity of the phytocannabinoid product CBD.
July – Dr. Zlebnik is promoted to Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at UMSOM. Congrats!
July – Dr. Natalie Zlebnik is awarded a K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award from NIDA/NIH, kudos!
June – Dr. Joe Cheer spends a week at PKU in Beijing interacting with members of Dr. Yulong Li’s lab and others, as an invitee from students in the honors program in life sciences.
May – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper with the LoboLab.
May – Mr. Miguel Angel Lujan from Pompeu Fabra University, joins the Cheer lab for a 3-month research rotation, welcome!
April – Dr. Dan Covey publishes his paper in Cell Reports, congrats!
April – Dr. Joe Cheer gives a seminar at the University of Minnesota.
March – Dr. Jen Wenzel takes a job as PO at NIDA. Congratulations!
March – Dr. Dan Covey is promoted to Assistant Professor of Neurobiology at UMSOM. Congrats!
March – Dr. Joe Cheer gives a seminar at Temple Neuroscience.
March – Dr. Joe Cheer gives a seminar at the Parkinson’s Disease Foundation workshop on medical marijuana in Denver, CO.
February – The Cheer Lab is awarded a 5-year R01 from NIDA, in collaboration with Dr. Mary Kay Lobo.
February – Dr. Dan Covey receives a NIH Pathway to Independence Award (K99/R00) from NIDA, congratulations!
February – Dr. Natalie Zlebnik publishes her paper in Cerebral Cortex, congrats!
February – The Cheer Lab hires Dr. Kate Peters as a postdoctoral fellow and Miss Kim Cruz as a research technician. Welcome Kate and Kim!
February – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper with UMSOM faculty on striatal dopamine release in the rostral intralaminar thalamus driving reinforcement.
January – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper with NIDA researchers on reward driven by dual dorsal raphe serotonin-glutamate neurons synapsing on VTA mesoaccumbens dopamine neurons.
2018
December – The Cheer Lab recruits two new technicians. Welcome Sam and Lakota!
December – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper on observational learning, conspecific distress and dopamine.
November – The Cheer Lab presents at the annual Society for Neuroscience meeting in San Diego, CA.
October – Edith Hernandez wins a SACNAS presentation award, congrats!
October – The Cheer Lab is awarded a 2.5-year contract from CHDI.
October – Dr. Sonia Aroni joins the Cheer Lab as a postdoctoral fellow, welcome Sonia!
October – The Cheer Lab is awarded a 5-year R01 from NIDA, in collaboration with researchers from Italy, Hungary and California.
October – Dr. Dan Covey wins a travel award to attend WCBR2019, congrats!
September – The Cheer Lab publishes a collaborative paper on dopamine and cognitive flexibility.
August – The Cheer Lab publishes paper with collaborators on cannabinoid receptor-1 signaling contributes to sign tracking.
July – Dr. Joe Cheer gives a seminar at the Italian Institute of Technology in Genoa.
July – Dr. Joe Cheer teaches at the CSHL course on addiction in Cambridge, England.
June – Dr. Dan Covey publishes his paper in Neuropsychopharmacology, congrats!
June – The Cheer Lab publishes paper with collaborators on mGlu1 receptor activity having antipsychotic-like effects.
June – Dr. Joe Cheer presents Edith Hernandez’s poster at University of Maryland School of Medicine PIN retreat at University of Notre Dame.
June – The Cheer Lab recruits a new STAR PREP Scholar. Welcome Antonio!
June – Dr. Joe Cheer receives a certificate of excellence for his mentoring for our STAR PREP scholar, Edith Hernandez.
June – The Cheer Lab recruits a new technician. Welcome Erin!
May – Dr. Jennifer Wenzel publishes her paper in Current Biology. Congrats Jen!
May – Edith Hernandez presents her poster at Duke for the Mid-Atlantic PREP Research Conference.
April – The Cheer Lab is recognized in “Science Daily” for Dr. Jennifer Wenzel’s recent work on fear and avoidance behavior.
April – The Cheer Lab is recognized in “MIND Mente & Cervello” for Dr. Jennifer Wenzel’s recent work on fear and avoidance behavior.
March – The Cheer Lab Recognized in UMB School of Medicine’s “What’s ON! — In Brain Sciences,” for a featured published paper.
February – The Cheer Lab is Recognized in UMB School of Medicine’s Vera Causa Winter Edition for in vivo Calcium Imagine techniques.
February – Cheer Lab publishes paper with collaborators on serotonin receptor signaling in association with goal-directed vigor.
January – Dr. Natalie Zlebnik gets The Notice of Award for her 3-year postdoctoral fellowship from the NIH. Congrats Natalie!
January – The Cheer Lab welcomes a visiting grad student from Barcelona. Welcome Sami!
2017
December – Cheer Lab publishes paper with collaborators on endocannabinoid modulation of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens.
November – Dr. Jennifer Wenzel, Dr. Dan Covey and Dr. Natalie Zlebnik present posters at SfN. Good Luck Guys!
November – Dr. Joe Cheer presented with “Postdoctoral Mentor Award” from the Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology. Congrats Joe!
July – Dr. Joe Cheer presents at The Gordon Research Conference on the Neurobiology on Addiction in Hong Kong, China. Good Luck Joe!
July – Dr. Joe Cheer writes an editorial with Dr. Yasmin Hurd on cannabinoid neurobiology for Neuropharmacology.
June – Dr. Jennifer Wenzel publishes her review in Neuropsychopharmacology. Congrats Jen!
June – Cheer Lab publishes paper with collaborators on the cognitive maps of the medial and lateral orbitofrontal cortex.
June – Cheer Lab publishes paper with collaborators on the function of calcium channels in the mesolimbic dopamine system.
May – Cheer Lab publishes paper with collaborators on the endocannabinoid system as a target for anxiolytic drugs.
March – Dr. Dan Covey publishes his review in Neuropharmacology. Congrats Dan!