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. Parekh, P.K., Becker-Krail, D., Sundaravelu, P., Ishigaki, S., Okado, H., Sobue, G., Huang, Y., and McClung, C.A. (2017) Altered GluA1 function and accumbal synaptic plasticity in the Clockdelta19 model of bipolar mania. Biological Psychiatry, in press
  2. Chen, C.Y., Logan, R.W., Tianzhou, M., Lewis, D.A., Tseng, G.C., Sibille, E., and McClung, C.A. (2016) The effects of aging on circadian patterns of gene expression in the human prefrontal cortex. Proc Natl Acad Sci, USA, 113:206-11.
  3. Sidor, M.M., Spencer, S., Dzirasa, K., Parekh, P.K., Tye, K.M., Warden, M.R., Arey, R.N., Enwright III, J.F., Jacobsen, J.P.R., Kumar, S., Remillard, E.M., Caron, M.G., Deisseroth, K., and McClung, C.A. (2015) Daytime spikes in dopaminergic activity underlie rapid mood-cycling. Molecular Psychiatry, 20:1479-80.
  4. Ozburn, A.R., Falcon, E., Twaddle, A., Nugent, A.L., Gillman, A.G., Spencer, S.M., Arey, R.N., Mukherjee, S., Lyons-Weiler, J., Self, D.W., and McClung, C.A. (2014) Direct regulation of diurnal Drd3 expression and cocaine reward by NPAS2. Biological Psychiatry 77:425-33. *Selected as a priority communication.
  5. Arey, R., Enwright III, J.F., Spencer, S., Falcon, E., Ozburn, A.R., and McClung, C.A. (2013) An important role for Cholecystokinin, a CLOCK target gene, in the development and treatment of manic-like behaviors. Molecular Psychiatry, 19: 342-350.

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...