Faculty

Colleen A McClung, PhD

Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science

Contact Details

450 Technology Drive
Pittsburgh
 
PA
 
15219
Phone 412-624-5547
Email
Website
The McClung Lab
CARRS Center

Education & Training

PhD
Biology, University of Virginia, College and Graduate School of Arts & Sciences
Neuroscience, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

Professional Affiliations

Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Member, Society for Neuroscience
Member, Society for Research on Biological Rhythms
Member, Molecular Psychiatry Association

Selected Honors & Awards

NARSAD Independent Investigator Award, Brain & Behavioral Research Foundation
Rising Star Award, International Mental Health Research Organization
Neuroscience of Brain Disorders Award, McKnight Foundation

Research Interests

Circadian rhythms in psychiatric disorders; Molecular mechanisms of psychiatric disorders
Selected Research Publications & Products
  1. Ketchesin KD, Zong W, Hildebrand MA, Seney ML, Cahill KM, Scott MR, Shankar VG, Glausier JR, Lewis DA, Tseng GC & McClung CA. (2023) Diurnal alterations in gene expression across striatal subregions in psychosis. Biological Psychiatry, 93: 137-148.
  2. Becker-Krail DD, Ketchesin KD, Burns JN, Zong W, Hildebrand MA, DePoy LM, Vadnie CA, Tseng GC, Logan RW, Huang YH & McClung CA. (2022) Astrocyte molecular clock function in the nucleus accumbens is important for reward related behavior in mice. Biological Psychiatry, 92: 68-80.
  3. Logan RW, Ozburn AR, Arey RN, Ketchesin KD, Winquist A, Crain A, Tobe BTD, Becker-Krail D, Jarpe MB, Xue X, Zong W, Huo Z, Parekh PK, Zhu X, Fitzgerald E, Zhang H, Oliver-Smith J, DePoy LM, Hildebrand MA, Snyder EY, Tseng GC & McClung CA. (2021) Valproate reverses mania-like behaviors in mice via preferential targeting of HDAC2, Molecular Psychiatry, 26:4066-4084
  4. Ketchesin KD, Zong W, Hildebrand MA, Cahill K, Scott MR, Shankar V, Glausier J, Lewis DA, Tseng GC & McClung CA. (2021) Diurnal rhythms across the human dorsal and ventral striatum, Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. 118:e2016150118.
  5. Seney ML, Cahill K, Enwright JF III, Logan RW, Huo Z, Zong W, Tseng G & McClung CA. (2019) Diurnal rhythms in gene expression in the prefrontal cortex in schizophrenia. Nature Communications, Aug 910:3355.

Education Interests

Research mentorship; Graduate student education; Postdoctoral fellow education

Pitt Psychiatry's Newest T32 Postdoctoral Training Program: Supportive, Multidisciplinary Addiction Research Training (SMART)

Drs. Colleen McClung and Mary Torregrossa

The National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) has awarded Pitt Psychiatry a T32 postdoctoral training grant focused on substance use disorder research. Led by Colleen McClung, PhD (Professor of Psychiatry and Clinical and Translational Science), and Mary Torregrossa, PhD (Associate Professor of Psychiatry), the goal of the Supportive, Multidisciplinary Addiction Research Training (SMART) T32 program is to provide...

Pitt Psychiatry’s 2024 Research Day, Part I: A Research and Networking Bonanza

Research Day 2024

The 22nd annual Department of Psychiatry Research Day, held on June 13, 2024, was the most highly attended Research Day ever, with 544 faculty members, trainees, and staff gathering at Soldiers & Sailors Memorial Hall & Museum on the University of Pittsburgh campus. Lunchtime Roundtables More than 260 individuals participated in or facilitated one of 19 roundtable discussion groups focused on topics including...

Molecular Psychiatry: Cell-type and Sex-Specific Rhythmic Gene Expression in the Nucleus Accumbens

DePoy and McClung

Circadian rhythms are critical for human health and are highly conserved across species, controlling physiological processes and behavior across the light/dark cycle. In addition to regulating basic physiological processes and brain function, disrupted circadian genes are linked to altered mood and substance use vulnerability. Circadian genes modulate behavior through specific cell types in the nucleus accumbens...

Pitt Psychiatry Awarded $6M Baszucki Group Grant to Study the Therapeutic Effect of the Ketogenic Diet in Bipolar Disorder

Drs. Mary Phillips, Zachary Freyberg and Colleen McClung

A team of investigators led by Mary Phillips, MD, MD (Cantab) (Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, Clinical and Translational Science, and Bioengineering, and Pittsburgh Foundation-Emmerling Endowed Chair in Psychotic Disorders), have received a Baszucki Group grant to support their new center, “Elucidating Neurobiological Mechanisms Underlying the Therapeutic Effect of the Ketogenic Diet in Bipolar Disorder (BD...

Biological Psychiatry: Diurnal Alterations in Gene Expression Across Striatal Subregions in Psychosis

Drs. Kyle Ketchesin & Colleen McClung

Psychosis, an impairment that manifests as hallucinations and/or delusions, is a defining feature of schizophrenia and highly prevalent in bipolar disorder. Individuals suffering with these illnesses also have major disruptions in sleep and circadian rhythms, which can precipitate or exacerbate psychotic symptoms. A group of investigators including Kyle Ketchesin, PhD (Assistant Professor of Psychiatry), Madeline...