People

Paul J. Meyer, Ph.D. // Project Investigator & Assistant Professor // Curriculum Vitae

Dr. Meyer is from Grand Rapids, Michigan, and received his B.S. in Psychology as a Natural Science from the University of Michigan. After working with Drs. Harriet de Wit and Andrea King at the University of Chicago, he received his Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience under the mentorship of Dr. Tamara J. Phillips at Oregon Health & Science University. He had two post-doctoral fellowships, with Drs. Michael Morgan and Susie Ingram at Washington State University, and with Drs. Wayne Aldridge and Terry Robinson at the University of Michigan. He has been an Assistant Professor at the University at Buffalo since 2012. While he is well-known for his waterskiing abilities, lately he enjoys spending his free time with his family.

Chris King // Postdoctoral Researcher

Chris is originally from Grand Island, NY, which is the largest land-locked fresh water island in western New York. Chris earned his Ph.D in Behavioral Neuroscience at the University at Buffalo in 2020. Chris is currently a postdoctoral fellow as part of the Clinical and Research Institute on Addiction’s T32 training program, for the etiology of alcohol use disorder. Chris’ research aims include rodent models of drug-taking and motivation, cholinergic and nicotinic systems underlying alcohol-directed behavior, and phenotypic and genotypic differences underlying drug responses.

Elizabeth Rakowski // Graduate Student

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Brady Thompson // Research Technician

Brady joined the Meyer Lab in Oct. 2019, just in time to experience our beautiful western New York during a global pandemic. He earned a Masters in Psychology with a focus on Behavioral Neuropharmacology under Rick Bevins at the University of Nebraska – Lincoln. His training in survival surgeries is integral [or so he thinks] for the P50 Genome Wide Association Study (GWAS) on intermittent access to cocaine self-administration. Other areas of interest include: the conditioned stimulus effects of nicotine and varenicline, self-administration of drugs of abuse, and the influence of nicotine and similar ligands on ethanol consumption. His hobbies include soccer, snowboarding, gaming and happy-hour conversation.