Education

Ernest Gallo Clinic & Research Center, UCSF, Postdoctoral training 2004-2006

UCSF/UC Berkeley Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering Ph.D. 2003

Major: Neuroscience
Minors: Transport, Drug Design

Harvey Mudd College, Engineering BS 1999

Emphases: Chemical Engineering and Psychology

 

Current Research

Adjunct Associate Professor (July 2010 - present)

Associate Investigator (January 2010 - present)

Assistant Research Scientist (January 2007 - December 2009)

Postdoctoral Fellow (January 2004 - December 2006)

Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center
Advisor: Howard L. Fields, M.D., Ph.D.
Research in Addiction Neuroscience investigating the characteristics of neurons sensitive to mu, kappa, and delta opioid receptor agonists in the ventral tegmental area (VTA), a source of dopamine in the reward circuitry of the brain. Focus on determining the specific anatomical targets of opioid sensitive VTA neurons and finding a reliable technique for identifying dopaminergic neurons in vitro.
  • in vitro whole cell electrophysiology
  • stereotaxic surgery
  • retrograde tracing of neurons in live animals
  • immunohistochemical methods including TH, GAD, and biocytin/avidin staining
  • confocal microscopy
  • real time RT-PCR
  • neural explant culture
  • siRNA vector design

Doctoral Research

UCSF/UC Berkeley Joint Graduate Group in Bioengineering (April 2000 - December 2003)
Advisor: Howard L. Fields, M.D., Ph.D.
Research in Addiction Neuroscience determined the effects of kappa opioid receptor activation in the VTA. Contrasted these effects with those elicited by mu opioid agonists.
  • in vitro whole cell electrophysiology
  • immunohistochecmial methods including TH and biocytin staining
  • time, frequency, and power analyses of spontaneous neural activity

 

Publications: Papers

Margolis EB, Coker AR, Driscoll JR, Lemaitre AI, Fields HL (2010) Reliability in the identification of midbrain dopamine neurons. PLoS One Dec 9;5(12):e15222.

Xia YF, Margolis EB, Hjelmstad GO (2010) Substance P inhibits GABAB signalling in the ventral tegmental area. J Physiol May 1; 588(Pt 9):1541-9.

Dobi A, Margolis EB, Wang HL, Harvey BK, Morales M (2010) Glutamatergic and nonglutamategic neurons of the ventral tegmental area establish local synaptic contacts with dopaminergic and nondopaminergic neruons. J Neurosci 30(1):218-229.

Margolis EB, Fields HL, Hjelmstad GO, Mitchell JM (2008) Delta opioid receptor expression in the ventral tegmental area protects against elevated alcohol consumption. J Neurosci 28:12672-12681.

Margolis EB, Mitchell JM, Ishikawa J, Hjelmstad GO, Fields HL (2008) Midbrain dopaminergic neurons: projection target determines action potential duration and dopamine D2 receptor inhibition. J Neurosci 28:8908-8913.

Fields HL, Hjelmstad GO, Margolis EB, Nicola SM (2007) Ventral tegmental area neurons in learned appetitive behavior and positive reinforcement Annu Rev Neurosci Mar 15

Margolis EB, Lock H, Hjelmstad GO, Fields HL (2006) The ventral tegmental area revisited: is there an electrophysiological marker for dopaminergic neurons? J Physiol Dec 15; 577(Pt 3):907-24.

Margolis EB, Lock H, Chefer VI, Shippenberg TS, Hjelmstad GO, Fields HL (2006) Kappa opioids selectively control dopaminergic neurons projecting to the prefrontal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A Feb 21;103(8):2938-42.

Margolis EB, Hjelmstad GO, Bonci A, Fields HL (2005) Both kappa and mu opioid agonists inhibit glutamatergic input to ventral tegmental area neurons. J Neurophysiol 93:3086-3093.
Featured in Editorial Focus

Margolis EB, Hjelmstad GO, Bonci A, Fields HL (2003) Kappa-opioid agonists directly inhibit midbrain dopaminergic neurons. J Neurosci 23:9981-9986.
Featured in This Week in the Journal

Invited Lectures

Winter Conference on Brain Research, Copper Mountain, CO (2009)

INRC Charleston, SC (2008)

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University, New York, NY (2007)

Dopamine 50 Years Congress, Sweden (2007)

Workshop on Neurosystems, Stanford University. Stanford, CA (2007)

National Institute of Drug Abuse, Baltimore, MD (2004)

  

 Honors & Awards

  • Poster Award, INRC (2009)
  • Winner of the Women's Technology Cluster BioBiz VC competition (2003)
  • Finalist in the Berkeley Business Plan Competition (2002)
  • Wheeler Center for the Neurobiology of Addiction Research Grant (2001)
  • Departmental Honors, Engineering Department, Harvey Mudd College (1999)
  • Graduation with distinction, Harvey Mudd College (1999)

Professional Memberships and Certifications

  • Society for Neuroscience, member (2001 - present)
  • Board for Professional Engineers and Land Surveyors, state of CA, EIT Certification (2000)
  • Society of Women Engineers, member (1995 - present), President Harvey Mudd College Section (1997 - 1999), Secretary Harvey Mudd Section (1996 - 1997)

Service to Professional Publications

Journal reviewer, Journal of Neuroscience, European Journal of Neuroscience, Life Sciences, Neuroreport, Neuropsychopharmacology

 

Last Updated 5/22/11 EBM