Stephen Boehm

Stephen Boehm received his PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience from the Oregon Health & Science University in 2002 where he studied the role of brain GABAB receptor systems in alcohol-related behavior in mice. After a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Texas at Austin, he was appointed to the Psychology faculty as an Assistant Professor at Binghamton University. He came to IUPUI in the fall of 2009 where he is currently Professor and Chair of Psychology. Dr. Boehm’s research interests are in the neuroscience of addiction. Over the years his lab has focused on the brain and behavioral impacts of binge alcohol drinking using mice as model systems. However, since coming to IUI his lab has expanded to include work in the areas of opioid and cannabis use. To date his efforts have generated over 70 peer-reviewed publications. Moreover, he has been continuously funded by the NIH/NIAAA as PI or co-PI during his entire time at IUI, winning over $5.75M in external and internal grants over this period. His current projects seek to understand how environmental and developmental factors influence brain mechanisms underpinning drug and alcohol self-administration. He employs cutting-edge techniques in mouse behavior, mouse stereotaxic surgical and site-specific microinjection procedures (including both drug and virus), mouse brain anatomy and histology, Western blot analysis of protein expression, and brain circuit manipulation techniques such as chemogenetics. Current funded projects focus on the impacts of binge alcohol drinking history on brain circuits believed to underpin the development of compulsive-like and high intensity drinking in mice (supported by a component of the collaborative NIH/NIAAA P60-supported Indiana Alcohol Research Center). Other ongoing work is exploring how developmental lead (Pb) exposure alters later aspects of drug and alcohol brain and behavioral sensitivity in mice (previously supported by a grant from the IU Addictions Grand Challenge Initiative). A recent collaborative project aims to explore the use of music interventions in the treatment pain and opioid analgesia in the mitigation of that pain. The hope is that these projects will advance the mission of the NIH/NIAAA (and NIH/NIDA) to better understand the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the development of problem drug and alcohol use, and positively impact efforts to develop novel strategies for the prevention and treatment of substance use disorders.