Stephen Boehm
Professor and Chair, Department of PsychologyAddiction Neuroscience
Department of Psychology
Indiana Alcohol Research Center
ude[dot]iupui[at]mheobls
Effects of developmental lead (Pb) exposure on brain and behavioral sensitivity to drugs and alcohol
My work has helped to inform if/how early life low-level Pb exposure during similar to that experienced by kids growing up in and around Indianapolis might influence the brain and behavioral effects of alcohol and other drugs in mice. The work has been conducted in collaboration with an expert in childhood Pb exposure at IUI, Dr. Gabriel Filipelli in the Department of Earth Science. The work is interdisciplinary in that it uses mice to model the brain and behavioral impacts of Pb that kids are exposed to by merely playing in the soil around old industrial cities such as Indianapolis. Our hope is that this work can improve public health outcomes, particularly in the area of alcohol and substance use disorder, in Indianapolis and beyond.