Position
Assistant Professor, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine
Contact
Email: MDBerquistii@uams.edu
Research Experience
I received an undergraduate degree in psychology from Northern Michigan University in Marquette, Michigan, in 2011. After that, I completed a master’s degree program in experimental psychology at Northern Michigan University, where I trained in behavioral pharmacology and learned about rodent models. During the summer of 2013, I interned as a student researcher at Lundbeck Pharmaceuticals Inc. and learned about rodent models of cognitive function and antidepressant pharmacology. In the fall of 2013, I began graduate school at Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and received a doctorate in Behavior Analysis in 2016 after completing a dissertation on the discriminative stimulus effects of synthetic cathinones (designer drug “bath salts”). Next, I moved to Little Rock, Arkansas, and began my post-doctoral training at UAMS under a T32 Translational Training in Addiction grant directed by Clint Kilts, Ph.D. I was jointly mentored under the post-doctoral fellowship by William Fantegrossi, Ph.D., and S. Michael Owens, Ph.D., of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UAMS. In 2019, I joined the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at UAMS as an assistant professor.
Research Interests
My research interests focus on the behavioral pharmacology of medications used to treat substance use disorders and trauma-related disorders, such as posttraumatic stress disorder. I use a variety of behavioral assays in rodents to evaluate potential medications, including drug discrimination, intravenous- and oral self-administration, locomotor activity and open field assessment, and other operant conditioning methods. I also collaborate frequently with other UAMS faculty members to complement our behavioral endpoints. In collaboration with Lisa Brents, Ph.D., of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, my current research focuses on the effects of prenatal opioid exposure and early life stress exposure on alcohol abuse susceptibility and alpha-adrenoceptor expression in adolescent rats. I also have a deep interest in experimental design and biostatistics, and I provide statistical support for a variety of research projects led by my colleagues at UAMS.
Recent Publications
Berquist MD, Leth-Petersen S, Kristensen JL, Fantegrossi WE. “In vivo effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and its deuterated form in rodents: drug discrimination and thermoregulation.” Drug and Alcohol Depend. 2020;208:107850. PMID: 31954950
Berquist MD, Leth-Petersen S, Kristensen JL, Fantegrossi WE. “Locomotor effects of 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) and its deuterated form in mice: psychostimulant effects, stereotypy, and sensitization.” Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2020;237:431-442. PMID: 31729537
Berquist MD, McGill MR, Mazur A, Findley DL, Gorman G, Jones CB, Hambuchen MD. “Effect of bile duct ligation-induced livery dysfunction on methamphetamine pharmacokinetics in male and female rats.” Drug and Alcohol Depend. 2020;215:108190. PMID: 32736295
Hyatt WS, Berquist MD, Chitre NM, Russell LN, Rice KC, Murnane KS, Fantegrossi WE. “Repeated administration of synthetic cathinone 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) persistently increases impulsive choice in rats.” Behav Pharmacol. 2019;30:555-565. PMID: 31211703
Bullock TA, Berquist MD, Baker LE. “Locomotor sensitization in male Sprague-Dawley rats following repeated concurrent treatment with 4-methylmethcathinone and 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine.” Behav Pharmacol. 2019;30:566-573. PMID: 31268871
Hambuchen MD, Berquist MD, Simecka CM, McGill MR, Gunnell MG, Hendrickson HP, Owens SM. “Effect of bile duct ligation-induced liver dysfunction on methamphetamine pharmacokinetics and locomotor activity in rats.” J Pharm Pharm Sci. 2019;22:301-312. PMID: 31329536
McClenahan SJ, Hambuchen MD, Simecka CM, Gunnell MG, Berquist MD, Owens SM. “Cardiovascular effects of 3,4-methylenedioxypyrovalerone (MDPV) in male and female Sprague-Dawley rats.” Drug and Alcohol Depend. 2019;195:140-147.
Fantegrossi WE, Wilson CD, Berquist MD. “Pro-psychotic effects of synthetic cannabinoids: Interactions with central dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate systems.” Drug Metab Rev. 2019;50:65-73. PMCID: PMC6419500
Berquist MD, Hyatt WS, Bauer-Erickson J, Gannon BM, Norwood AP, Fantegrossi WE. “Phencyclidine-like in vivo effects of methoxetamine in mice and rats.” Neuropharmacology. 2018;134(Pt A):158-166. PMCID: PMC5818319
Berquist II MD, Fantegrossi WE. “Discriminative stimulus effects of psychostimulants.” Prus AJ & Porter J (Eds.). Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2018;39:29-49. PMID: 28341944