About the Pilot-Project Investigators
Dr. Robin GauthierInterpersonal conflict and drug use in the Great Plains
Dr. Gauthier's work shows how crucial relational processes are for answering pressing questions about health in a dynamic and changing world. Network theories share the fundamental premise that individual behaviors and outcomes cannot be fully understood without reference to the social context that facilitates and constrains access to risk, resources and support. She has applied this insight to several substantive problems including domestic violence support, epidemic potential, and intervention evaluation.
Dr. Tierney LorenzPredictors of sex-linked marijuana and alcohol use in sexual minority and heterosexual women
Dr. Lorenz is an Assistant Professor in the Psychology Department and Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Her lab, the Women, Immunity and Sexual Health (WISH) lab, examines the interaction between women's mental, physical and sexual health, including the ways that sexual behavior impacts women's immune and endocrine function, as well as ways to help women with mental and/or physical health conditions have happy, healthy sexual lives.
Dr. Roberto AbadieAn ethnographic exploration of Opioid Agonist Treatment barriers and facilitators among opioid users in rural Nebraska
As a trained medical anthropologist, Dr. Abadie's research focuses on how different forms of social stratification, in particular, class, race, and ethnicity, contribute to produce and reproduce health inequalities in marginalized populations. He has conducted extensive fieldwork on the ethics of clinical trials, HIV risk, People Who Inject Drugs (PWID), and health disparities among Latino populations in a variety of settings in Latin America, the Caribbean and the US.
Dr. Palsamy PeriyasamyCocaine-mediated microglial activation involves epigenetic dysregulation of DNMT1/IncRNA Xist/PPARG signaling axis
Dr. Palsamy Periyasamy is an Instructor (Prof. Shilpa Buch’s Lab) in the Department of Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience, UNMC. His long-term goal is to investigate the epigenetic changes that occurred during HIV-1 infection and drug abuse leading to glial cells (microglia and astrocytes) activation and to identify potential therapeutic strategies for HIV-associated neurocognitive disorder (HAND) treatment.