Cowan Lab

Dr. Chris Cowan’s research lab, also known as the Integrative Neurobiology Lab, focuses on two thematic research areas: (1) molecular and circuit mechanisms of substance use disorders and (2) brain development and neurodevelopmental disorders. The Cowan lab team uses preclinical models to examine genes, molecular mechanisms, and neural circuit adaptations in the young and adult brain under both healthy and pathological conditions. The lab employs a broad array of experimental approaches to gain a better understanding about the underlying regulation, or dysregulation, of healthy brain function, and they take an integrated, multidisciplinary approach to address these important topics for human mental health.

Our research

Substance and alcohol use disorders

The lab employs a range of molecular, genomic, physiologic, and behavioral techniques to understand how illicit substances hijack brain function to promote addiction-related behaviors. Through identification of new genes and molecules involved in addiction risk and relapse vulnerability, the lab to gain new insights into how drug-cue and drug-environment associations create triggers of drug craving and relapse in individuals seeking to control problem drug and alcohol use. The lab studies multiple molecules that are recruited by illicit drug use and support, or sometimes limit, maladaptive brain circuit changes underlying relapse-related behavior in animal models.

Neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs)

The Cowan Lab has uncovered key cortical development roles for several genes linked to risk for neurodevelopmental disorders, including autism spectrum disorders, intellectual disability, and schizophrenia. These molecules function during typical brain development to control the proper establishment and remodeling of excitatory and inhibitory connections in the brain. Abnormalities in these genes in humans often produce intellectual disability and autism-associated symptoms, and the lab observes similar “symptoms” in mice engineered to have disruptions in these same genes. By understanding the role of these NDD-linked genes during development, the lab seeks to leverage this information to develop novel therapeutics that might help mitigate debilitating symptoms in affected individuals to increase their quality of life.

Christopher Cowan, Medicine, PhD, Professor wearing a sport coat and dress shirt

Christopher Cowan, Ph.D.

Chair, Department of Neuroscience
William E. Murray SmartState Endowed Chair of Excellence in Neuroscience
Professor, College of Medicine - Neuroscience & Psychiatry

Dr. Chris Cowan is Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, and holds the SmartState Endowed Chair in Brain Imaging. Dr. Cowan is also the Director of the NIH-funded Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) in Neurodevelopment and Its Disorders (CNDD), the Scientific Director of the NIDA-funded Charleston Opioid Center on Addiction (COCA), and he is co-founder of NeuroEpigenix, a company advancing a novel therapeutic treatment for alcohol use disorder.

Dr. Cowan earned his BA from Wesleyan University (CT) and his PhD in Biochemistry, Cell and Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital in the area of molecular neurobiology. Prior to joining MUSC in 2016, Dr. Cowan was an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at UT Southwestern Medical School and Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and McLean Hospital.

Dr. Cowan’s NIH-funded research focuses on molecular mechanisms of developmental brain wiring, syndromic forms of autism spectrum disorder, and epigenetic mechanisms underlying relapse and drug-cue reactivity in substance use disorders. His preclinical research lab utilizes a multidisciplinary approach to study these disorders, including genomics, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology, complex behavioral analyses, and therapeutic development.

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Meet the Team

Lab Members

Jessica Huebschman, Ph.D.
Degree(s): B.S. in Neuroscience, Baylor University; Ph.D. in Neuroscience, Texas A&M University

Dr. Huebschman is interested in the molecular mechanisms of drug-induced plasticity that underlie the development of drug-related behavior and substance use disorders (SUDs). For her doctoral work, she studied FMRP's unique striatal function and its implications for striatal synaptic plasticity, FXS, and SUDs. Her work included investigation of potential mechanisms by which FMRP facilitates cocaine-conditioned place preference and susceptibility to cocaine self-administration. As a postdoc in the Cowan Lab, she is investigating the role of NPAS4 in regulating drug-seeking behavior.

Evgeny Tsvetkov, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist II
Degree(s): Ph.D. in Biological Sciences, Sechenov Institute of Evolutionary Physiology and Biochemistry

Dr. Tsvetkov studies cellular mechanisms of neuronal transmission at central nervous system synapses. In previous studies in the lateral nucleus of the amygdala, she described basic properties of long-term potentiation, long term depression, and established the nature of interactions between LTP and learned fear mechanisms. As an electrophysiologist in the Cowan Lab, Dr. Tsvetkovstudies the effects of neurodevelopment genes on synaptic transmission and plasticity in multiple brain regions, including the cortex and hippocampus. He also studies the role of drug-regulated genes on synaptic plasticity in brain reward regions, including the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex.

Alain Greige
M.D., Ph.D. Student
Degree(s): B.S. in Biology from the American University of Beirut, 2019

Biography: Alain is interested in understanding the role of neuroimmunity in neurodevelopmental disorders. During his undergraduate years, he worked on characterizing the involvement of Syndecan-1 in the pathogenesis of Rheumatoid Arthritis. In the Cowan lab, Alain is investigating the role of microglial synaptic refinement in the mouse model of MEF2C Haploinsufficiency Syndrome.

Testimony Ajibade, MSc
Ph.D. Student
Degree(s): B.S. in Anatomy, Babcock University; MSc in Anatomy, University of Ibadan, Nigeria.

Testimony is interested in understanding the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders. During her undergraduate years, she studied the role of caffeine on postnatal hippocampal structure and function in rat models. In her master’s program, she studied the possible therapeutic effects of omega-3 oil on aluminum-chloride-induced neurotoxicity in the hippocampus of female Wistar rats. In the Cowan Lab, she is studying neuron-microglia interactions in Mef2c transgenic mouse models.

Eleanor Kunitz-Levy
Research Specialist
Degree(s): B.S. in Neuroscience and Psychology from Brandeis University, 2023

Ellie is deeply interested in understanding the neurological corollaries of our senses, thoughts, and behavior. As an undergraduate, Ellie worked in the Jadhav Lab, studying deficits in social foraging behavior in FXS rats. In the Cowan Lab, she is helping Jessica Huebschman to investigate how NPAS4 (Neuronal PAS domain protein 4) modulates drug-seeking behavior in cocaine self-administration tasks for mice. She also conducts routine PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis for the laboratory at large.

Benjamin Zirlin, MMSc
Lab Manager
Degree(s): B.S. in Biology, University of North Texas; MMSc in Anesthesiology, Emory University

Biography: Ben received his Bachelor of Science in 2007 and Master of Medical Science in 2013. Ben has worked for the Cowan Lab since 2008 and assists with multiple facets of daily lab operation.

Lab Alumni

Former Member	Role	Tenure
Michael Robichaux, Ph.D.	Graduate Student	2008-2013
Carly Hale, Ph.D.	Graduate Student	2008-2014
Jaswinder Kumar, M.D., Ph.D.	MSTP Student	2012-2024
Maria Carreira, Ph.D.	Graduate Student	2009-2015
Laura Smith, Ph.D.	Graduate Student	2009-2015
Aram Raissi, Ph.D.	Postdoctoral Fellow	2014-2016
Makoto Taniguchi, Ph.D.	Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor	2007-2019
Adam Harrington, Ph.D.	Postdoctoral Fellow and Staff Scientist	2012-2021
Catherine Bridges, M.D., Ph.D.	MSTP Student	2017-2021
Ahlem Assali, Ph.D.	Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor	2015-2022
Brandon Hughes, Ph.D.	Graduate Student	2017-2022
Ethan Anderson, Ph.D.	Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor	2017-2023
Jennifer Cho, M.D., Ph.D.	MSTP Student	2019-2023
Rachel Penrod-Martin, Ph.D.	Postdoctoral Fellow and Assistant Professor	2012-2023
Daniel Wood, MBBS, Ph.D.	MSTP Student	2019-2025
Rose Marie Akiki, M.D., Ph.D.	MSTP Student	2020-2025
Karim Al Hasanieh, M.D.	Postdoctoral Fellow	2023-2025

Support discovery that changes lives

MEF2C-Haploinsufficiency Syndrome is a rare genetic condition that can affect a child’s development, movement and speech. Your gift helps the Cowan Lab better understand the condition and pursue new treatment strategies that may improve quality of life for patients and families.

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