Rinker Laboratory

Neurobiology of Alcohol and Stress Interactions

Our lab is investigating neuroplasticity in CRF-expressing neurons in the mPFC and PVT and their contribution to stress-enhanced excessive alcohol consumption

Team:

Director

Jennifer Rinker, Ph.D.; Professor; Department of Neuroscience Questionably the person in charge of this crew, but I have never had more fun doing science. I began this journey during my undergrad at Western Michigan University where I earned my B.S. in Biology/Psychology. I went on to get my PhD in Behavior, Cognition and Neuroscience at American University. I completed postdoctoral fellowships at UNC-Chapel Hill (Go Heels!) and here at MUSC, before transitioning to faculty and officially opening my lab in July 2021 in the Department of Neuroscience and as part of the Charleston Alcohol Research Center.

Lab Manager

TJ Wukitsch, MS.; Lab Manager, Department of Neuroscience
Reading Carl Sagan and watching PBS, TLC, and Discovery Channel as a kid got me into science. My first hands-on experience volunteering as a participant in an EEG study during undergrad was what pulled me into neuroscience. I did my B.A. in Psychology at Southern Illinois University Carbondale and my M.S. in Behavioral Neuroscience at Kansas State University. As far as I am concerned, I have met my professional goal: to be happy where I work. I hope to bring a little piece of that happiness to our students and collaborators each day to make the grind at least a bit more bearable.

Graduate Students

Katie Carter; PhD Student, Department of Neuroscience
Kathy Lindquist; PhD Student, Department of Neuroscience
Krysten O'hara; PhD Student, Department of Neuroscience
Heyam Saleh; PhD Student, Department of Neuroscience
Amy Ward; PhD Student, Department of Neuroscience

Undergraduate Students

Cat Bowman; Undergraduate Student, Department of Neuroscience
Grace Joyner; Undergraduate Student, Department of Neuroscience & Biology
Sam Stea; Undergraduate Student, Department of Neuroscience