Specialty	Psychiatry
Gender	Male
E-mail	eric.nestler@mssm.edu
Education and Training	MD, Yale University School of Medicine
	Ph.D., Yale University
	Internship, Medicine/Psychiatry, Mclean Hospital
	Residency, Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
	Fellowship, Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine
	Fellowship, Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
Awards	2008 Goldman-Rakic Award NARSAD
	2005 American Academy of Arts and Science
	1998 Institute of Medicine

Dr. Nestler is the Nash Family Professor of Neuroscience and Director of the Mount Sinai Brain Institute. His laboratory studies the molecular mechanisms of drug addiction and depression in animal models.

Visit Eric Nestler's Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry for more information.

Education and Training	MD, Yale University School of Medicine
	Ph.D., Yale University
	Internship, Medicine/Psychiatry, Mclean Hospital
	Residency, Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
	Fellowship, Pharmacology, Yale University School of Medicine
	Fellowship, Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine
Board Certification	Psychiatry

Specialty	Psychiatry
Board Certification	Psychiatry

Specific Clinical/Research Interest: Molecular neurobiology of drug addiction and depression; transcriptional and epigenetic regulation in the brain.

Current Students: Quincey LaPlant, Ian Maze, Matthew Wilkinson

Postdoctoral Fellows: Herb Covington, David Dietz, Deveroux Ferguson, Pamela Kennedy, Ja-Wook Koo, Mary Kay Lobo, Michelle Mazei-Robison, Nori Ohnishi, Yoko Ohnishi, Alfred Robison, Vincent Vialou

Research Personnel: Zeke Mouzon, Kate Bradbury, and Shameeke Taylor

Our research focuses on identifying the neurobiological basis of drug addiction and depression in rodent models. We study the molecular and cellular changes that occur in regions of the brain important for reward and motivation in response to chronic administration of a drug of abuse or chronic exposure to stress. We are particularly interested in long-lasting changes that are mediated via alterations in gene expression and chromatin remodeling. The result of the research will guide future efforts toward the development of more effective treatments for addiction and depression.

In a broader sense, our laboratory is interested in the biological basis of behavioral plasticity-understanding how the brain adapts over time to chronic perturbations-and we use drugs of abuse and stress as prototypical challenges. The importance of understanding how the brain adapts is underscored by the fact that both the development of psychiatric symptoms and their reversal during treatment occur gradually and progressively over weeks, months, and even years. Yet the molecular and cellular basis of such stable changes in behavior remains largely unknown. The advanced behavioral models of addiction and stress in rodents make these problems uniquely well suited to address this challenge. That is, by analyzing drug- and stress-induced changes in the brain, in the context of behavioral models of addiction and depression, it is possible to understand the detailed molecular mechanisms of clinically relevant behavioral abnormalities.

For more information, please visit the Laboratory of Molecular Psychiatry.

Renthal W, Maze I, Krishnan V, Covington HE, Xiao GH, Kumar A, Russo SJ, Graham A, Tsankova N, Kerstetter KA, Kippin TE, Neve RL, Haggarty SJ, McKinsey TA, Bassel-Duby R, Olson EN, Nestler EJ. Histone deacetylase 5 epigenetically controls behavioral adaptations to chronic emotional stimuli. Neuron 2007; 56: 517-529.

Krishnan V, Han MH, Graham DL, Berton O, Renthal W, Russo SJ, LaPlant Q, Graham A, Lutter M, Lagace DC, Ghose S, Reister R, Tannous P, Green TA, Neve RL, Chakravarty S, Kumar A, Eisch AJ, Self DW, Lee FS, Tamminga CA, Cooper DC, Gershenfeld HK, Nestler EJ. Susceptibility and resistance to social defeat are mediated through molecular adaptations in brain reward regions. Cell 2007; 131: 391-404.

Berton O, Covington HE, Ebner K, Tsankova NM, Carle TL, Ulery P, Bhonsle A, Barrot M, Krishnan V, Singewald GM, Singewald N, Birnbaum S, Neve RL, Nestler EJ. Induction of FosB in the periaqueductal gray by stress promotes active coping responses. Neuron 2007; 55: 289 -300.

Russo SJ, Bolanos CA, Theobald DE, DeCarolis NA, Renthal WR, Kumar A, Winstanley CA, Renthal NE, Wiley MD, Self DW, Russell DS, Neve RL, Eisch AJ, Nestler EJ. The IRS2-Akt pathway in midbrain dopaminergic neurons regulates behavioral and cellular responses to opiates. Nature Neurosci 2007; 10: 93-99.

Zachariou V, Bolanos CA, Selley DE, Theobald D, Cassidy MP, Kelz MB, Shaw-Lutchmann T, Berton O, Sim-Selley LJ, DiLeone RJ, Kumar A, Nestler EJ. FosB: An essential role for FosB in the nucleus accumbens in morphine action. Nature Neurosci 2006; 9: 205-211.

Tsankova NM, Berton O, Renthal W, Kumar A, Neve RL, Nestler EJ. Sustained hippocampal chromatin regulation in hippocampus in a mouse model of depression and antidepressant action. Nature Neurosci 2006; 9: 519-525.

Berton O, McClung CA, DiLeone RJ, Krishnan V, Russo S, Graham D, Tsankova NM, Bolanos CA, Rios M, Monteggia LM, Self DW, Nestler EJ. Essential role of BDNF in the mesolimbic dopamine pathway in social defeat stress. Science 2006; 311: 864-868.

Kumar A, Choi KH, Renthal W, Tsankova NM, Theobald DH, Truong H, Russo SJ, LaPlant Q, Whistler K, Neve RL, Self DW, Nestler EJ. Chromatin remodeling is a key mechanism underlying cocaine-induced plasticity in striatum. Neuron 2005; 48: 303-314.