Daicia Allen, Ph.D.

Dr. Daicia Allen earned her PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience at Oregon Health and Science University under the mentorship of Dr. Kathleen Grant. Her graduate work examined various aspects of alcohol addiction in non-human primates, including self-administration, withdrawal, and subjective drug effects. In her dissertation, Dr. Allen investigated the involvement of the nucleus accumbens in subjective alcohol intoxication using chemogenetics (DREADDs). After graduation, Dr. Allen spent several years studying cognitive function more broadly in the context of learning and memory (Dr. Kari Hoffman, Vanderbilt University) and perceptual decision-making (Dr. Michele Basso, UCLA). During this time Dr. Allen also learned in vivo electrophysiology. She is passionate about the intersection between pharmacology and behavior and how these systems are dysregulated in drug addiction. She joined the London laboratory in September 2021 and is excited to apply her training to human laboratory research in stimulant users.