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 Biography   Huda Akil, Ph.D. Gardner Quarton Distinguished University Professor of Neuroscience and Psychiatry Co-Director, Molecular and Behavioral Neuroscience Institute University of Michigan Dr. Akil has made seminal contributions to the understanding of the neurobiology of emotions, including pain, anxiety, depression and substance abuse. Early on, she and her colleagues provided the first physiological evidence for a role of endorphins in the brain and showed that endorphins are activated by stress and inhibit pain. In investigations of the mechanisms underlying stress reactivity in anxiety and depression, she demonstrated that social defeat in rodents activates unique neural pathways resembling those altered in human depression. Dr. Akil and her team have focused on the role of steroid stress-hormone receptors, creating transgenic mice that overexpress these receptors in the forebrain and studying the impact on anxiety and stress responses. This research has demonstrated receptor activity and enhanced responsiveness to antidepressants that mimic human bipolar (manic-depressive) illness. Currently, Dr. Akil is participating in a consortium working to uncover the pattern of gene expression in major depression and bipolar illness in human postmortem brains. The group is conducting a genome-wide search for genetic variants involved in bipolar illness. Dr. Akil joined NARSAD’s Scientific Council in 2002. |
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