Gunner Drossel
PhD 2024
Pronouns: he/him
PhD Thesis
Addressing Individual Heterogeneity in the Neurobehavioral Factors Related to Substance Use Disorders
Current Position:
MedTech Strategy PhD-Consultant at IQVIA
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:
- Neuroimaging of the effects of drug exposure or self-administration in rodents: A systematic review. Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2024 Aug 1;164:105823.
- Drossel G, Zilverstand A. Towards personalized medicine: subtyping using functional profiles. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024 Jan;49(1):347-348.
- Subtypes in addiction and their neurobehavioral profiles across three functional domains. Translational Psychiatry, 2023;13(1):127.
- A. Explainable machine learning analysis reveals gender differences in the phenotypic and neurobiological markers of cannabis use disorder. Sci Rep. 2022 Sep 17;12(1):15624.
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
- 2023-24 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship, Graduate School, University of Minnesota
- 2023 American Legion Brain Science Award, University of Minnesota and Minneapolis VA Medical Center
- 2023 Invited Speaker, Graduate Program in Neuroscience Annual Retreat, University of Minnesota
- 2020-23 T32 Training Grant in Drug Addiction, National Institute on Drug Abuse (5T32DA007234-29)
- 2022 Poster Award, Office of Biomedical Graduate Research, Research Recognition Day, University of Minnesota,
- 2019-20 T32 Predoctoral Training Grant, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (T32NS105604-04)
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.
