Samantha Malone

Research Interests:
Preclinical models of substance use disorders
Social substance use and relapse
Escalation of opioid intake
Reinstatement of opioid seeking
Neuronal calcium imaging
Biostatistics

 

 

I am a 6th year PhD candidate in the Experimental Psychology: Cognitive Neuroscience PhD program working with Dr. Michael Bardo. My research in the Bardo lab is focused on developing novel and effective preclinical models of opioid use disorder (OUD), with a concentration on escalation, withdrawal, relapse, sex differences, and the intricate social factors involved in OUD. Through my work, I hope to further improve the understanding of OUD by creating rodent models that better translate to the human condition and and inform treatment development and policy through statistics and advocacy. 

Please, feel free to email me with any questions.

Selected Publications:

Malone, S. G., Keller, P. S., Hammerslag, L. R., & Bardo, M. T. (2021). Escalation and reinstatement of fentanyl self-administration in male and female rats. Psychopharmacology, 238(8), 2261–2273. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00213-021-05850-7

Bardo, M.T., Hammerslag, L.R., & Malone, S.G. (2021). Effect of early life social adversity on drug abuse vulnerability: Focus on corticotropin-releasing factor and oxytocin. Neuropharmacology, 191, 108567. doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropharm.2021.108567

*Malone, S., *Custodio, L., Bardo, M. T., & Turner, J. R. (2021). Nicotine and Opioid Co-Dependence: Findings from Bench Research to Clinical Trials. Neuroscience and biobehavioral reviews, S0149-7634(21)00578-9. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.neubiorev.2021.12.030

Hammerslag, L.R., Humburg, B.A., Malone, S.G., Beckmann, J.S., Saatman, K.E., Grinevich, V., & Bardo, M.T. (2022). Peer-induced cocaine seeking in rats: Comparison to nonsocial stimuli and role of paraventricular hypothalamic oxytocin neurons. Addiction Biology, 27 (5), e13217. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13217

*Malone, S.G., * Shaykin, J.D., Stairs, D.J., & Bardo, M.T. (2022). Neurobehavioral effects of environmental enrichment and drug abuse vulnerability: An updated review. Pharmacology, biochemistry, and behavior, 221, 173471. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.pbb.2022.173471