Alicia Avelar

Alicia Avelar profile image
Department
Life Sciences
Primary campus
Cattaraugus County
Location
Cattaraugus County
Phone
716.376.7577

Assistant Professor

I have earned a B.S. and M.S. in Biology at Illinois State University. I also earned a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio.

I have done scientific research studying drugs of abuse. I am interested in the mechanisms of action of drugs of abuse and in finding ways to help people suffering from drug dependence. My favorite organ is the brain, but I enjoy studying how all parts of the human body function. I taught undergraduates at Illinois State University and the University of San Diego and have trained undergraduates in research labs to contribute to scientific projects. I have also given guest lectures for students at St. Bonaventure University, University of California San Diego, and Virginia Tech.

I love learning new things and sharing them with others, which is part of why I enjoy teaching. I also like to help students learn and enjoy the process of learning.

Title: Ph.D. (Dr.)

Education:

  • Ph.D. Pharmacology, University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio
  • M.S. Biology, Illinois State University
  • B.S. Biology, Illinois State University

Scientific Publications:

  • de Guglielmo G, Carrette L, Kallupi M, Brennan M, Boomhower B, Maturin L, Conlisk D, Sedighim S, Tieu L, Fannon MJ, Martinez AR, Velarde N, Othman D, Sichel B, Ramborger J, Lau J, Kononoff J, Kimbrough A, Simpson S, Smith LC, Shankar K, Bonnet-Zahedi S, Sneddon EA, Avelar A, Plasil SL, Mosquera J, Crook C, Chun L, Vang A, Milan KK, Schweitzer P, Lin B, Peng B, Chitre AS, Polesskaya O, Solberg Woods LC, Palmer AA, George O. Large-scale characterization of cocaine addiction-like behaviors reveals that escalation of intake, aversion-resistant responding, and breaking-points are highly correlated measures of the same construct. Elife. 2024 Nov 1;12:RP90422. doi: 10.7554/eLife.90422. PMID: 39484794; PMCID: PMC11530236.
  • Beldjoud H, Avelar A, de Guglielmo G, Kallupi M, Sedighim S, Velarde N, Boomhower B, Rizo N, Carrette LLG, George O. Chronic administration of a norepinephrine antagonist prevents and partially reverses escalation of cocaine self-administration. Addict Biol. 2023 Sep;28(9):e13316. doi: 10.1111/adb.13316. PMID: 37644893; PMCID: PMC10614571.
  • Avelar AJ, Cooper SY, Wright TD, Wright SK, Richardson MR, Henderson BJ. Morphine Exposure Reduces Nicotine-Induced Upregulation of Nicotinic Receptors and Decreases Volitional Nicotine Intake in a Mouse Model. Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Jul 13;24(8):1161-1168. doi: 10.1093/ntr/ntac002. PMID: 34999827; PMCID: PMC9278828.
  • Avelar AJ, George O. How nicotine withdrawal symptoms fight each other: interpeduncular GABA neuron activity dynamically controls negative affect vs. coping behavior. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2022 Feb;47(3):617-618. doi: 10.1038/s41386-021-01185-1. Epub 2021 Sep 30. PMID: 34593977; PMCID: PMC8783007.
  • Akers AT, Cooper SY, Baumgard ZJ, Casinelli GP, Avelar AJ, Henderson BJ. Upregulation of nAChRs and Changes in Excitability on VTA Dopamine and GABA Neurons Correlates to Changes in Nicotine-Reward-Related Behavior. eNeuro. 2020 Oct 15;7(5):ENEURO.0189-20.2020. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0189-20.2020. PMID: 32988984; PMCID: PMC7568605.
  • Avelar AJ, Akers AT, Baumgard ZJ, Cooper SY, Casinelli GP, Henderson BJ. Why flavored vape products may be attractive: Green apple tobacco flavor elicits reward-related behavior, upregulates nAChRs on VTA dopamine neurons, and alters midbrain dopamine and GABA neuron function. Neuropharmacology. 2019 Nov 1;158:107729. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2019.107729. Epub 2019 Jul 29. PMID: 31369741; PMCID: PMC6751572.
  • Fu X, Moonschi FH, Fox-Loe AM, Snell AA, Hopkins DM, Avelar AJ, Henderson BJ, Pauly JR, Richards CI. Brain Region Specific Single-Molecule Fluorescence Imaging. Anal Chem. 2019 Aug 6;91(15):10125-10131. doi: 10.1021/acs.analchem.9b02133. Epub 2019 Jul 24. PMID: 31298524; PMCID: PMC8542424.
  • Newman AH, Cao J, Keighron JD, Jordan CJ, Bi GH, Liang Y, Abramyan AM, Avelar AJ, Tschumi CW, Beckstead MJ, Shi L, Tanda G, Xi ZX. Translating the atypical dopamine uptake inhibitor hypothesis toward therapeutics for treatment of psychostimulant use disorders. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019 Jul;44(8):1435-1444. doi: 10.1038/s41386-019-0366-z. Epub 2019 Mar 11. PMID: 30858517; PMCID: PMC6785152.
  • Avelar AJ, Cao J, Newman AH, Beckstead MJ. Atypical dopamine transporter inhibitors R-modafinil and JHW 007 differentially affect D2 autoreceptor neurotransmission and the firing rate of midbrain dopamine neurons. Neuropharmacology. 2017 Sep 1;123:410-419. doi: 10.1016/j.neuropharm.2017.06.016. Epub 2017 Jun 15. PMID: 28625719; PMCID: PMC5546153.
  • Avelar AJ, Juliano SA, Garris PA. Amphetamine augments vesicular dopamine release in the dorsal and ventral striatum through different mechanisms. J Neurochem. 2013 May;125(3):373-85. doi: 10.1111/jnc.12197. Epub 2013 Mar 6. PMID: 23406303; PMCID: PMC3633730.
  • More publication information: pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/?term=Alicia+Avelar&sort=pubdate

Courses teaching

Summer 2025

Fall 2025

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