Ronan, Patrick

• Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Texas Southwestern at Dallas 

• Ph.D., Biology, University of South Dakota 

• M.A., University of South Dakota 

• B.A., Earlham College, Richmond, Ind.

Dr. Ronan's research program is directed at understanding the neurobiological mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders, such as PTSD, addiction, and depression.  His lab is presently focusing their efforts on VA and NIH funded preclinical projects investigating the role neuroinflammation plays in alcoholism and the treatment of cognitive dysfunction often seen in cancer patients, as well as an NIH funded clinical study investigating factors maintaining alcohol use disorder and PTSD among Veterans.  There are other ongoing projects students could be involved in if they have an interest.  Dr. Ronan employs a wide variety of laboratory techniques (e.g. conditional transgenic mouse models, in vivo viral mediated gene manipulation, microdialysis, HPLC, EEG, optogenetics, immunohistochemistry, immunoblot, ELISA, confocal microscopy, stereology, qRT-PCR, among others) and multiple preclinical animal behavior models.  Dr. Ronan's lab is located on the Sioux Falls VA campus.