Marina Picciotto Explained

Marina Rachel Picciotto
Birth Date:June 22, 1963
Birth Place:Bloomington, Indiana, U.S.
Fields:Neuroscience
Workplaces:Yale University
Doctoral Advisor:Paul Greengard
Academic Advisors:Jean-Pierre Changeux, Richard Scheller
Known For:Nicotinic receptors

Marina Rachel Picciotto (born June 22, 1963) is an American neuroscientist known for her work on the role of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors in addiction, memory, and reward behaviors. She is the Charles B. G. Murphy Professor of Psychiatry and professor in the Child Study Center and the Departments of Neuroscience and of Pharmacology at the Yale University School of Medicine.[1] She was named Director of the Yale University Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program in September 2023.[2] From 2015 to 2023, she was editor-in-chief of the Journal of Neuroscience. She is currently President of the Society for Neuroscience.[3]

Education and early life

Born in Bloomington, Indiana on June 22, 1963, Picciotto moved to New York City as an infant and graduated from Hunter College High School in 1981. Picciotto received her B.S. in biology from Stanford University in 1985, and her Ph.D. in 1992 from Rockefeller University. She carried out post-doctoral work at the Pasteur Institute in Paris from 1992-1995.

Scientific career

Picciotto began her career in neuroscience as an undergraduate researcher at Stanford University, where she worked with Richard Scheller. There she discovered that the FMRFamide gene gives rise to multiple copies of the neuropeptide.[4] She went on to PhD work with Paul Greengard at Rockefeller University where she cloned the gene for calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase 1[5] As a Human Frontier Science Program postdoctoral fellow with Jean-Pierre Changeux at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, Picciotto produced the first mouse knock-out lacking a nicotinic receptor subunit.[6] She returned to the United States in 1995 to join the Yale University faculty as an assistant professor and rising through the ranks to become the Charles B.G. Murphy Professor in Psychiatry in 2008. Her group is known for its discoveries in nicotine addiction and brain circuits. Recent work from Picciotto showed that pre-natal exposure to nicotine has profound effects on adult behavior.[7] In press interviews, she has expressed concerns about the use of e-cigarettes and low-dose nicotine cigarettes.[8]

Editorial

In 2015, Picciotto was named editor-in-chief of The Journal of Neuroscience. After taking over leadership at the journal, she instituted a number of changes including eliminating submission fees for Society for Neuroscience members[9] and restoring the ability of authors to publish supplementary data alongside their papers.[10] Picciotto has also instituted new controls on statistical analysis and experimental design reporting.[11] In a move to support pre-print publishing, Picciotto added The Journal of Neuroscience to the list of journals that will accept submissions directly from bioRxiv.[12] She also started initiatives on social media to thank scientists who participated in peer review at the journal.[13]

Awards

President Bill Clinton presented Picciotto with the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers at the White House in 2000.[14] She received the Jacob P. Waletzky Memorial Award for Innovative Research in Drug Addiction and Alcohol Research from The Society for Neuroscience in 2007.[15] Picciotto was elected as an AAAS fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in 2014,[16] and was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2012.[17] In 2019, Picciotto was among 11 scientists awarded the National Institutes of Health’s Pioneer Award.[18] [19] That same year, she was awarded the Bernice Grafstein award for advancing the careers of women in neuroscience.[20] She received the Andrew Carnegie Prize for Mind and Brain Science in 2020[21] and she was awarded the Langley Award for Basic Research on Nicotine and Tobacco in 2021.[22] Picciotto was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2024 for her work in the field of neuroscience.[23]

Selected publications

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Marina Picciotto, PhD > Psychiatry - Yale School of Medicine . psychiatry.yale.edu.
  2. Web site: Picciotto to Direct Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program. www.medicine.yale.edu. en. 2023-09-23.
  3. Web site: SfN Election Results: Meet Your New Leaders. www.sfn.org. en. 2023-09-23.
  4. Aplysia neurons express a gene encoding multiple FMRFamide neuropeptides . M. . Schaefer . M. R. . Picciotto . T. . Kreiner . R. R. . Kaldany . R. . Taussig . R. H. . Scheller . 1 June 1985 . . 41 . 2 . 457–467 . 3838698 . 10.1016/s0092-8674(85)80019-2. 22684178 .
  5. Calcium/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase I. cDNA cloning and identification of autophosphorylation site . M. R. . Picciotto . A. J. . Czernik . A. C. . Nairn . 15 December 1993 . . 268 . 35 . 26512–26521 . 10.1016/S0021-9258(19)74343-9 . 8253780. free .
  6. Abnormal avoidance learning in mice lacking functional high-affinity nicotine receptor in the brain . M. R. . Picciotto . M. . Zoli . C. . Léna . A. . Bessis . Y. . Lallemand . N. . Le Novère . P. . Vincent . E. M. . Pich . P. . Brûlet . J. P. . Changeux . 2 March 1995 . . 374 . 6517 . 65–67 . 10.1038/374065a0 . 7870173. 1995Natur.374...65P . 4303990 .
  7. Web site: Bill . Hathaway . Effects of maternal smoking continue long after birth . 30 May 2016 . . Press release.
  8. Web site: Will Low-Nicotine Cigarettes Stop People From Smoking? Yale Prof Says Answer Is Not Clear . Diane . Orson . 2 August 2017 . WNPR.
  9. Picciotto . Marina . 2017 . No Submission Fee for SfN Members . The Journal of Neuroscience . 37 . 9 . 2267 . 10.1523/jneurosci.0230-17.2017. 28250054 . 6596840 . free .
  10. Picciotto . Marina . 2017 . JNeurosci Manuscripts May Now Include Extended Datasets . The Journal of Neuroscience . 37 . 13 . 3441 . 10.1523/jneurosci.0402-17.2017. 28356393 . 6596927 .
  11. Picciotto . Marina . 2017 . Reporting on Experimental Design and Statistical Analysis . The Journal of Neuroscience . 37 . 14 . 3737 . 10.1523/jneurosci.0654-17.2017. 28381649 . 6596713 . free .
  12. Picciotto . Marina . 2017 . Direct Submissions from bioRxiv. . The Journal of Neuroscience . 37 . 2 . 237 . 10.1523/jneurosci.3812-16.2016. 28077702 . 6596579 .
  13. Picciotto . Marina . 2016 . Gratitude to Our Reviewers . The Journal of Neuroscience . 36 . 36 . 9267 . 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2645-16.2016. 27605602 . 6601876 .
  14. Web site: President Honors Outstanding Young Scientists.
  15. Web site: Society for Neuroscience Jacob P. Waletzky Memorial Award. Abuse. National Institute on Drug. 2019-06-13. www.drugabuse.gov. en. 2020-02-01.
  16. Web site: New AAAS Fellows Recognized for Their Contributions to Advancing Science . 24 November 2014 . American Association for the Advancement of Science.
  17. Web site: Marina Picciotto elected to the Institute of Medicine - Yale School of Public Health . . Press release.
  18. Web site: Yale Scientists Win NIH Awards for Pioneering Work. Yale School of Medicine. en. 2019-11-26.
  19. Web site: 2019 NIH Director's awards for High-Risk, High-Reward Research Program Announced. 2019-09-30. National Institutes of Health (NIH). EN. 2019-11-26.
  20. Web site: Society for Neuroscience Honors Dedicated Mentors and Creative Early-Career Researchers. www.sfn.org. en. 2020-02-01.
  21. Web site: Marina R. Picciotto To Receive Andrew Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Science. November 24, 2020. www.cmu.edu. en. 2023-09-23.
  22. Web site: SRNT 2021 Award Winners. www.srnt.org. en. 2023-09-23.
  23. Web site: Picciotto Elected to American Academy of Arts and Sciences. April 24, 2024. www.yale.edu. en. 2024-04-29.

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