Emilia Lefevre, PhD

The Lefevre lab’s research interests are in the neurobiological mechanisms of opioid addiction. Addiction is a chronic disorder characterized by compulsive drug seeking, craving, and a pervasive vulnerability to relapse driven by adaptations in reward circuitry. Our lab is focused on identifying and manipulating these opioid-evoked adaptations in reward circuitry and their respective contributions to reward-seeking behavior. In the lab, we use a multifaceted approach that includes mouse models of addiction-like behavior, patch clamp electrophysiology, chemogenetics, transcriptomics and fiber photometry.