Noted neurobiologist joins UB Research Institute on Addictions

BUFFALO, N.Y. – Panayotis (Peter) K. Thanos, PhD, has joined the University at Buffalo Research Institute on Addictions as a senior research scientist.

An expert in the field of behavioral neuropharmacology, Thanos’ primary research interests include studying the role of the brain’s dopamine circuits in drug and alcohol abuse, as well as in obesity.

Thanos joins RIA from Stony Brook University, where he was director of the Behavioral Pharmacology and Neuroimaging Laboratory and an associate professor in the Department of Psychology.

“We are very excited to have Dr. Thanos join RIA,” says Kenneth Leonard, PhD, RIA director. “With his expertise in brain imaging, neuropharmacology, genetics and behavioral analysis, Dr. Thanos is an outstanding complement to the excellent addiction neuroscientists currently at RIA and in other departments at UB. We believe that, together, we will be able to develop groundbreaking, collaborative research to address addiction, this most difficult and pervasive public health problem.”

Thanos is currently co-investigator on a major grant from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development studying whether methyphenidate (Ritalin) is harmful to skeletal development in adolescents and, if so, how to reduce its adverse effects. The grant’s principal investigator is David Komatsu, PhD, of Stony Brook University and co-investigator is Michael Hadjiargyrou, PhD, of New York Institute of Technology.

Thanos serves on the editorial boards of the Journal of Reward Deficiency Syndrome, Frontiers in Addictive Disorders, Frontiers in Psychiatry, and Addiction Research and Therapy. He also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board on Addiction for Rivermend Health. His research findings have appeared in the Journal of Neuroscience, Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience, Translational Psychiatry, Molecular Neurobiology, Pharmacology Biochemistry and Behavior, Journal of Addiction Research and Therapy, and PloS, among numerous others.

RIA is a research center of the University at Buffalo and a national leader in the study of alcohol and substance abuse issues. RIA’s research programs, most of which have multiple-year funding, are supported by federal, state and private foundation grants. Located on UB’s Downtown Campus, RIA is a member of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus and a key contributor to UB’s reputation for research excellence. To learn more, visit buffalo.edu/ria.