Robert Pechnick, Ph.D.

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Work Titles
UCLA Professor, Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences
Education:
Degrees:
Ph.D.

Contact Information:

Email Address:

rpech@ucla.edu


Work Phone Number:

310-423-6206

Mailing Address:

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center
8730 Alden Drive
Los Angeles, CA 90048


Research Interest:

About

Robert N. Pechnick is a neuropharmacologist interested in the neurochemical mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders and drug abuse. He received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Department of Pharmacology at UCLA. He completed a two year National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral fellowship, and a one year NIH-sponsored fellowship in the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at UCLA. He then returned to the Department of Pharmacology, where he was appointed to the rank of Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmacology. Dr. Pechnick left UCLA in 1993 to accept the position of Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at Louisiana State University (LSU) at New Orleans. In January of 2000 he returned to Los Angeles, where he currently is Associate Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Pechnick received two Outstanding Teaching Awards for teaching medical students at UCLA, and the Copping Excellence in Basic Science Teaching Award from LSU. Dr. Pechnick has authored numerous publications and book chapters on preclinical and clinical aspects of drug abuse, and he has served on various federal advisory committees for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Detailed Biography:

Robert N. Pechnick is a neuropharmacologist interested in the neurochemical mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders and drug abuse. He received a B.A. in Psychology from the University of California at San Diego, and a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Department of Pharmacology at UCLA. He completed a two year National Institute of Mental Health postdoctoral fellowship, and a one year NIH-sponsored fellowship in the Laboratory of Neuroendocrinology at UCLA. He then returned to the Department of Pharmacology, where he was appointed to the rank of Adjunct Assistant Professor of Pharmacology. Dr. Pechnick left UCLA in 1993 to accept the position of Associate Professor of Pharmacology and Neuroscience at Louisiana State University (LSU) at New Orleans. In January of 2000 he returned to Los Angeles, where he currently is Associate Director of Research in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Science at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, and Professor of Psychiatry in the Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA. Dr. Pechnick received two Outstanding Teaching Awards for teaching medical students at UCLA, and the Copping Excellence in Basic Science Teaching Award from LSU. Dr. Pechnick has authored numerous publications and book chapters on preclinical and clinical aspects of drug abuse, and he has served on various federal advisory committees for the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Publications:

A selected list of publications:

Pechnick Robert N, Lacayo Liliana M, Manalo Charlene M, Bholat Yasmin, Spivak Inna   Eszopiclone stimulates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis in the rat European journal of pharmacology, 2011; 661(1-3): 22-6.
Pechnick Robert N, Manalo Charlene M, Lacayo Liliana M, Vit Jean-Philippe, Bholat Yasmin, Spivak Inna, Reyes Kevin C, Farrokhi Catherine   Acamprosate attenuates cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine-seeking behavior in rats Behavioural pharmacology, 2011; 22(3): 222-7.
Pechnick Robert N, Zonis Svetlana, Wawrowsky Kolja, Cosgayon Rosemarie, Farrokhi Catherine, Lacayo Liliana, Chesnokova Vera   Antidepressants stimulate hippocampal neurogenesis by inhibiting p21 expression in the subgranular zone of the hipppocampus PloS one, 2011; 6(11): e27290.
Larocque Daniel, Sanderson Nicholas S R, Bergeron Josée, Curtin James F, Girton Joe, Wibowo Mia, Bondale Niyati, Kroeger Kurt M, Yang Jieping, Lacayo Liliana M, Reyes Kevin C, Farrokhi Catherine, Pechnick Robert N, Castro Maria G, Lowenstein Pedro R   Exogenous fms-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand overrides brain immune privilege and facilitates recognition of a neo-antigen without causing autoimmune neuropathology Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2010; 107(32): 14443-8.
Puntel Mariana, Muhammad A K M G, Candolfi Marianela, Salem Alireza, Yagiz Kader, Farrokhi Catherine, Kroeger Kurt M, Xiong Weidong, Curtin James F, Liu Chunyan, Bondale Niyati S, Lerner Jonathan, Pechnick Robert N, Palmer Donna, Ng Philip, Lowenstein Pedro R, Castro Maria G   A novel bicistronic high-capacity gutless adenovirus vector that drives constitutive expression of herpes simplex virus type 1 thymidine kinase and tet-inducible expression of Flt3L for glioma therapeutics Journal of virology, 2010; 84(12): 6007-17.
IsHak Waguih William, Davis Michael, Jeffrey Jessica, Balayan Konstantin, Pechnick Robert N, Bagot Kara, Rapaport Mark Hyman   The role of dopaminergic agents in improving quality of life in major depressive disorder Current psychiatry reports, 2009; 11(6): 503-8.
Candolfi Marianela, Kroeger Kurt M, Muhammad A K M G, Yagiz Kader, Farrokhi Catherine, Pechnick Robert N, Lowenstein Pedro R, Castro Maria G   Gene therapy for brain cancer: combination therapies provide enhanced efficacy and safety Current gene therapy, 2009; 9(5): 409-21.
Pechnick Robert N, Chesnokova Vera   Adult neurogenesis, cell cycle and drug discovery in psychiatry Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2009; 34(1): 244.
Chesnokova Vera, Pechnick Robert N   Antidepressants and Cdk inhibitors: releasing the brake on neurogenesis? Cell cycle (Georgetown, Tex.), 2008; 7(15): 2321-6.
King Gwendalyn D, Kroeger Kurt M, Bresee Catherine J, Candolfi Marianela, Liu Chunyan, Manalo Charlene M, Muhammad A K M Ghulam, Pechnick Robert N, Lowenstein Pedro R, Castro Maria G   Flt3L in combination with HSV1-TK-mediated gene therapy reverses brain tumor-induced behavioral deficits Molecular therapy : the journal of the American Society of Gene Therapy, 2008; 16(4): 682-90.
Pechnick Robert N, Bresee Catherine J, Manalo Charlene M, Poland Russell E   Comparison of the effects of desmethylimipramine on behavior in the forced swim test in peripubertal and adult rats Behavioural pharmacology, 2008; 19(1): 81-4.
Pechnick Robert N, Zonis Svetlana, Wawrowsky Kolja, Pourmorady Jonathan, Chesnokova Vera   p21Cip1 restricts neuronal proliferation in the subgranular zone of the dentate gyrus of the hippocampus Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2008; 105(4): 1358-63.
Liu Xiu, Caggiula Anthony R, Yee Susan K, Nobuta Hiroko, Sved Alan F, Pechnick Robert N, Poland Russell E   Mecamylamine attenuates cue-induced reinstatement of nicotine-seeking behavior in rats Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2007; 32(3): 710-8.
Pechnick Robert N, Kariagina Anastasia, Hartvig Evelyn, Bresee Catherine J, Poland Russell E, Chesnokova Vera M   Developmental exposure to corticosterone: behavioral changes and differential effects on leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) and corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) gene expression in the mouse Psychopharmacology, 2006; 185(1): 76-83.
Liu Xiu, Caggiula Anthony R, Yee Susan K, Nobuta Hiroko, Poland Russell E, Pechnick Robert N   Reinstatement of nicotine-seeking behavior by drug-associated stimuli after extinction in rats Psychopharmacology, 2006; 184(3-4): 417-25.
Pechnick Robert N, Bresee Catherine J, Poland Russell E   The role of antagonism of NMDA receptor-mediated neurotransmission and inhibition of the dopamine reuptake in the neuroendocrine effects of phencyclidine Life sciences, 2006; 78(17): 2006-11.
Pechnick Robert N, Poland Russell E   Comparison of the effects of dextromethorphan, dextrorphan, and levorphanol on the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenal axis The Journal of pharmacology and experimental therapeutics, 2004; 309(2): 515-22.
Pechnick Robert N, Chesnokova Vera M, Kariagina Anastasia, Price Shannon, Bresee Catherine J, Poland Russell E   Reduced immobility in the forced swim test in mice with a targeted deletion of the leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF) gene Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2004; 29(4): 770-6.
Liu Xiu, Lee James G, Yee Susan K, Bresee Catherine J, Poland Russell E, Pechnick Robert N   Endotoxin exposure in utero increases ethanol consumption in adult male offspring Neuroreport, 2004; 15(1): 203-6.
Liu Xiu, Koren Andrei O, Yee Susan K, Pechnick Robert N, Poland Russell E, London Edythe D   Self-administration of 5-iodo-A-85380, a beta2-selective nicotinic receptor ligand, by operantly trained rats Neuroreport, 2003; 14(11): 1503-5.

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