Gunner Drossel

Pronouns: he/him

E-MAIL:  [email protected]

Undergraduate Institution and Major:

Hamline University, B.S. in Biology and B.A. in Psychology, 2017

Graduate Advisor:

Anna Zilverstand, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Graduate Research:

I study the individual heterogeneity of substance use disorders using a multimodal approach that combines behavioral data with functional MRI data. I also investigate ways in which preclinical models of functional neuroimaging with drug administration inform human subjects research on drug addiction and vice-versa. The whole of my research helps to inform future development of substance use disorder treatments.

Graduate Publications:

• Drossel, G., & Zilverstand, A. (2024). Towards personalized medicine: subtyping using functional profiles. Neuropsychopharmacology: official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 49(1), 347-348.
• Drossel, G., Brucar, L. R., Rawls, E., Hendrickson, T. J., Zilverstand, A. (2023). Subtypes in Addiction and Their Neurobehavioral Profiles across Three Functional Domains. Translational Psychiatry, 13 (1), 127. 
• Niklason, G., Rawls, E., Ma, S., Kummerfeld, E., Maxwell, A. M., Brucar, L. R., Drossel, G., & Zilverstand, A. (2022). Explainable Machine Learning Analysis Reveals Gender Differences in the Phenotypic and Neurobiological Markers of Cannabis Use Disorder. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1-14. 

Graduate Presentations

Drossel, G., Brucar, L., Rawls, E., & Zilverstand, A., “An Empirically Derived Three‐Domain Model of Substance Use Disorder”, Society for Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting, Virtual, 2021 

Drossel, G., Zimmermann, J., Thomas, M., & Zilverstand, A., “Chronic Opioid Self‐Administration and Neuroimaging in Rodents: Establishing a Translational Addiction Connectome”, University of Minnesota Graduate Program in Neuroscience Annual Retreat, Minneapolis, MN, 2021 

Drossel, G., Brucar, L., Rawls, E., & Zilverstand, A., “Subtypes in Addiction and Their Neurobehavioral Impairments in Approach Behavior, Negative Emotionality and Executive Function”, Society for Neuroscience, Virtual, 2021

 Drossel, G., Angeles-Valdez, D., Garza-Villarreal, E., & Zilverstand, A., “Subtypes in Individuals With Current Cocaine Use Disorder and Their Impairments in Negative Emotionality and Executive Function”, Society for Biological Psychiatry Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA, 2022 

Drossel, G., Zimmermann, J., Zilverstand A., “Functional neuroimaging of the effects of drug exposure or self-administration in rodents: A systematic review”, Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA, 2022 

Drossel, G., Maxwell, A., Kondepudy, M., Zilverstand, A., “Effects of Alcohol Use and Race on Drug Cue Reactivity”, University of Minnesota Graduate Program in Neuroscience Annual Retreat, Minneapolis, MN, 2024

Graduate Awards/Honors

Office of Biomedical Graduate Research, University of Minnesota, Research Recognition Day, Poster Award 2022 
Invited Speaker, Graduate Program in Neuroscience Annual Retreat, University of Minnesota 2023
American Legion Brain Science Award, University of Minnesota and Minneapolis VA Medical Center 2023
Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Graduate School, University of Minnesota 2023-2024

GPN Committees

Retreat Planning Committee 2021-2022
Career Facilitation Committee 2021-Present

Thesis Committee

Benjamin Saunders, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience (Chair)
Anna Zilverstand, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences (Advisor)
Jan Zimmermann, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience
Katie Cullen, M.D., Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Rotations

Jocelyn Richard, Ph.D., Department of Neuroscience 
Anna Zilverstand, Ph.D., Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences 
Sophia Vinogradov, M.D., Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences
Katie Cullen, M.D., Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences

Undergraduate Research

Undergraduate Research: Assessing the effect of heavy metal concentrations on antibiotic resistance genes in soil bacteria 

Postbac Research: Researching cellular signaling of neuropeptide GPCRs related to control of stress-responsive gene transcription

Why did you choose Minnesota?

I was born and raised in Minnesota and went to college at Hamline University in St. Paul, MN. After two years working as a postbac researcher at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD, I decided I was ready to return to Minnesota to be close to friends and family.