Posts classified under: Clinical and Preclinical Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy

Paul Macey, Ph.D.

Biography

Paul M. Macey is a neuroscientist who has worked at UCLA since 1999. He is an Associate Professor of Nursing, and serves in the School of Nursing Administration as Director of Information Technology and Innovation, and Chief Innovation Officer. Dr. Macey completed a degree in Electrical Engineering at the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, where he focused on bringing engineering approaches to the analysis of breathing signals recorded from infants during sleep. He started at UCLA in a post-doctoral position in the Department of Neurobiology, and continued as and Assistant then Associate Researcher. Dr. Macey then joined the School of Nursing and Brain Research Institute as a faculty member. Dr. Macey teaches in the undergraduate Nursing program, and serves on various faculty committees.

James McCracken, M.D.

Biography

Dr. McCracken is the Joseph Campbell Professor of Child Psychiatry and Director of the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at the UCLA NPI-Semel Institute (formerly the Neuropsychiatric Institute) in Los Angeles. Dr. McCracken is the principal investigator of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Research Center, “Translational Research to Enhance Cognitive Control,” which aims to develop and test innovative treatments for cognitive defects associated with child psychiatric illness. His other current areas of research include family-genetic studies of childhood disorders and the testing of new pharmacologic treatments for a variety of neuropsychiatric disorders in children, including attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), autism, obsessive-compulsive disorder, and anxiety disorders.

Dr. McCracken received medical and postgraduate training at Baylor College of Medicine, Duke University, and UCLA before joining the faculty at UCLA in 1987. He is the recipient of several honors and awards, including the American Psychiatric Association (APA) Young Psychiatrist Research Award. He has published more than 150 papers in the area of child psychiatry and serves on the editorial board of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology.

Dr. McCracken holds memberships in various local, national, and international professional organizations, including the APA, American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, International Society for Research in Child and Adolescent Psychopathology, International Society of Psychoneuroendocrinology, and the Society for Neuroscience. He is listed in both the Best Doctors in America and America’s Top Doctors databases.

Lara Ray, Ph.D.

Publications

A selected list of publications:

Bacio Guadalupe A, Lunny Katy F, Webb Jessica N, Ray Lara A   Alcohol Use Following an Alcohol Challenge and a Brief Intervention among Alcohol-Dependent Individuals The American journal on addictions / American Academy of Psychiatrists in Alcoholism and Addictions, 2014; 23(1): 96-101.
Courtney Kelly E, Ashenhurst James, Bacio Guadalupe, Moallem Nathasha, Bujarski Spencer, Hartwell Emily, Ray Lara A   Craving and subjective responses to alcohol administration: validation of the desires for alcohol questionnaire in the human laboratory Journal of studies on alcohol and drugs, 2013; 74(5): 797-802.
Courtney Kelly E, Ghahremani Dara G, Ray Lara A   Fronto-striatal functional connectivity during response inhibition in alcohol dependence Addiction biology, 2013; 18(3): 593-604.
Ray Lara A, Courtney Kelly E, Hutchison Kent E, Mackillop James, Galvan Adriana, Ghahremani Dara G   Initial Evidence that OPRM1 Genotype Moderates Ventral and Dorsal Striatum Functional Connectivity During Alcohol Cues Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2013; 74(5): .
Moallem Nathasha R, Courtney Kelly E, Bacio Guadalupe A, Ray Lara A   Modeling alcohol use disorder severity: an integrative structural equation modeling approach Frontiers in psychiatry, 2013; 4(1): 75.
Hartwell Emily E, Ray Lara A   Sex moderates stress reactivity in heavy drinkers Addictive behaviors, 2013; 38(11): 2643-6.
Ray Lara A, Bujarski Spencer, MacKillop James, Courtney Kelly E, Monti Peter M, Miotto Karen   Subjective response to alcohol among alcohol-dependent individuals: effects of the μ-opioid receptor (OPRM1) gene and alcoholism severity Alcoholism, clinical and experimental research, 2013; 37 Suppl 1(1): E116-24.
Bujarski Spencer, O’Malley Stephanie S, Lunny Katy, Ray Lara A   The effects of drinking goal on treatment outcome for alcoholism Journal of consulting and clinical psychology, 2013; 81(1): 13-22.
Ray Lara A, Lunny Katy, Bujarski Spencer, Moallem Nathasha, Krull Jennifer L, Miotto Karen   The effects of varenicline on stress-induced and cue-induced craving for cigarettes Drug and alcohol dependence, 2013; 131(1-2): 136-42.
Ray, L. A. Miranda, R. Mackillop, J. McGeary, J. Tidey, J. W. Rohsenow, D. J. Gwaltney, C. Swift, R. W. Monti, P. M.   A preliminary pharmacogenetic investigation of adverse events from topiramate in heavy drinkers Exp Clin Psychopharmacol, 2009; 17(2): 122-9.
Ray, L. A. Mackillop, J. Leggio, L. Morgan, M. Hutchison, K. E.   Effects of naltrexone on cortisol levels in heavy drinkers Pharmacol Biochem Behav, 2009; 91(4): 489-94.
Ray, L. A. Bryan, A. Mackillop, J. McGeary, J. Hesterberg, K. Hutchison, K. E.   The dopamine D Receptor (DRD4) gene exon III polymorphism, problematic alcohol use and novelty seeking: direct and mediated genetic effects Addict Biol, 2009; 14(2): 238-44.
Leventhal, A. M. Kahler, C. W. Ray, L. A. Stone, K. Young, D. Chelminski, I. Zimmerman, M.   Anhedonia and amotivation in psychiatric outpatients with fully remitted stimulant use disorder Am J Addict, 2008; 17(3): 218-23.
Ray, L. A. Miranda, R., Jr. Chelminski, I. Young, D. Zimmerman, M.   Diagnostic orphans for alcohol use disorders in a treatment-seeking psychiatric sample Drug Alcohol Depend, 2008; 96(1-2): 187-91.
Filbey, F. M. Ray, L. Smolen, A. Claus, E. D. Audette, A. Hutchison, K. E.   Differential neural response to alcohol priming and alcohol taste cues is associated with DRD4 VNTR and OPRM1 genotypes Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2008; 32(7): 1113-23.
Ray, L. A. Hutchison, K. E. MacKillop, J. Miranda, R., Jr. Audette, A. Swift, R. Monti, P. M.   Effects of naltrexone during the descending limb of the blood alcohol curve Am J Addict, 2008; 17(4): 257-64.
Miranda, R., Jr. Rohsenow, D. J. Monti, P. M. Tidey, J. Ray, L.   Effects of repeated days of smoking cue exposure on urge to smoke and physiological reactivity Addict Behav, 2008; 33(2): 347-53.
Miranda, R., Jr. MacKillop, J. Monti, P. M. Rohsenow, D. J. Tidey, J. Gwaltney, C. Swift, R. Ray, L. McGeary, J.   Effects of topiramate on urge to drink and the subjective effects of alcohol: a preliminary laboratory study Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2008; 32(3): 489-97.
MacKillop, J. Murphy, J. G. Ray, L. A. Eisenberg, D. T. Lisman, S. A. Lum, J. K. Wilson, D. S.   Further validation of a cigarette purchase task for assessing the relative reinforcing efficacy of nicotine in college smokers Exp Clin Psychopharmacol, 2008; 16(1): 57-65.
Haughey, H. M. Ray, L. A. Finan, P. Villanueva, R. Niculescu, M. Hutchison, K. E.   Human gamma-aminobutyric acid A receptor alpha2 gene moderates the acute effects of alcohol and brain mRNA expression Genes Brain Behav, 2008; 7(4): 447-54.
Ray, L. A. Kahler, C. W. Young, D. Chelminski, I. Zimmerman, M.   The factor structure and severity of DSM-IV alcohol abuse and dependence symptoms in psychiatric outpatients J Stud Alcohol Drugs, 2008; 69(4): 496-9.
Bryan, A. Ray, L. A. Cooper, M. L.   Alcohol use and protective sexual behaviors among high-risk adolescents J Stud Alcohol Drugs, 2007; 68(3): 327-35.
Ray, L. A. Rhee, S. H. Stallings, M. C. Knopik, V. Hutchison, K. E.   Examining the heritability of a laboratory-based smoking endophenotype: initial results from an experimental twin study Twin Res Hum Genet, 2007; 10(4): 546-53.
Ray, L. A. Miranda, R., Jr. Kahler, C. W. Leventhal, A. M. Monti, P. M. Swift, R. Hutchison, K. E.   Pharmacological effects of naltrexone and intravenous alcohol on craving for cigarettes among light smokers: a pilot study Psychopharmacology (Berl), 2007; 193(4): 449-56.
Ray, L. A. McGeary, J. Marshall, E. Hutchison, K. E.   Risk factors for alcohol misuse: examining heart rate reactivity to alcohol, alcohol sensitivity, and personality constructs Addict Behav, 2006; 31(11): 1959-73.
Hutchison, K. E. Ray, L. Sandman, E. Rutter, M. C. Peters, A. Davidson, D. Swift, R.   The effect of olanzapine on craving and alcohol consumption Neuropsychopharmacology, 2006; 31(6): 1310-7.
Hines, L. M. Ray, L. Hutchison, K. Tabakoff, B.   Alcoholism: the dissection for endophenotypes Dialogues Clin Neurosci, 2005; 7(2): 153-63.
Ray, L. A. Hutchison, K. E.   A polymorphism of the mu-opioid receptor gene (OPRM1) and sensitivity to the effects of alcohol in humans Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2004; 28(12): 1789-95.
Fromme, K. de Wit, H. Hutchison, K. E. Ray, L. Corbin, W. R. Cook, T. A. Wall, T. L. Goldman, D.   Biological and behavioral markers of alcohol sensitivity Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2004; 28(2): 247-56.