Telese Lab
Principal Investigator: Francesca Telese
Institution: University of California San Diego (La Jolla, CA)
Primary Subfield: Neuroscience
Recruitment Status: Inquire for rotation/fellowship opportunities
Research Focus
Project Summary The misuse and abuse of prescription pain relievers, such as oxycodone, contributed to the unprecedented opioid epidemic in the United States. The opioid crisis has devastating consequences on public health including a surge in opioid misuse and related overdoses. Research is urgently needed to develop better treatments for opiate addiction. Despite substantial knowledge of the pharmacokinetic and behavioral effects of oxycodone in various animal models, only a small number of candidate genes and neuroanatomical systems affected by opioids have been studied. Recent technological advances in the field of single cell genomics are promising avenues for the unbiased discovery and characterization of brain cell types that respond to opioids. In response to this RFA, we leverage an innovative multi-omics methodology (Single Cell Multiome ATAC + Gene Expression) to map the transcriptome and epigenome from the same cell across thousands of cells in brain regions relevant to the effects of opioid exposure. To this aim we will use a rat model of extended access to oxycodone intravenous self-administration that recapitulates several neuroadaptations also observed in humans wit…
Active NIH Awards
- 5R01DA056602-05: Multiomic profiling of cell types mediating opioid use disorder in rats (2026)
- 5R21DA060455-02: In vivo massive parallel reporter assay to analyze the function of cis-regulatory elements and variants implicated in substance use disorders (2026)
- 2U01DA050239-06A1: Single-cell resolution analysis of chromatin accessibility and gene expression changes in a model of drug addiction (2026)
- 1R01DA067003-01: Metabolic-Epigenetic Mechanisms of Neurotoxicity Following Acute Fentanyl Exposure (2026)
- 1P50DA066459-01: Brain Transcriptomic (2026)
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