I am a neuropharmacologist and toxicologist dedicated to uncovering the neurobiological mechanisms of substance abuse and developing innovative therapeutic strategies for substance use-related psychiatric disorders. Since 2012, I have served as an Investigator at the Center for Neuropsychiatric Research within the National Health Research Institutes (NHRI), following a prolific tenure as a Professor at Tzu Chi University.

My research program sits at the intersection of behavioral pharmacology, neurochemistry, and synaptic plasticity. My recent work is driven by the urgent need to address the public health threats posed by abused substances, including ketamine, methamphetamine, toluene, and synthetic cathinones.

Furthermore, I also serve as the Director of the Animal Behavior Core at NHRI, where I act as a consultant to assist investigators in the design and execution of animal behavioral experiments.

We provide an interdisciplinary environment where students gain hands-on experience in cutting-edge neuroscience. Our lab is not just about observing behavior; we look deep into the "why" by examining signal transduction, neurochemistry, synaptic function, and brain circuitry.

Comprehensive Training: Master a wide range of techniques, from animal behavioral tests  to electrophysiology.

High-Impact Research: Work on the growing global crisis of substance use disorders and substance use-related disorders and help develop medications 

Key Techniques in my lab:

Behavioral Assays: 

• Depression-like behaviors: Forced Swim Test, tail suspension
• Anxiety-like behaviors: elevated plus maze, light-dark transition, novelty suppression feeding test. 
• Social interaction:  reciprocal social interaction, 3-Chamber Social Test, 
• Learning and memory: Object Location/Recognition, Morris water maze, Barnes maze
• addiction related-behaviors: intravenous self administration; conditioned place preference
• pain: hot plate test, von-Frey test

Surgical/Technical: Stereotaxic surgery, wireless local field potential recording, and Focused Ultrasound Neuromodulation.

Cellular/Molecular: calcium image,  Western blotting, immunohistochemistry, and ex vivo electrophysiological recordings