Laura Sim-Selley, Ph.D.

Laura Sim-Selley received her Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Rochester in 1991. Her dissertation focused on the neuroanatomy of the pro-opiomelanocortin system and was completed in the laboratory of Dr. Shirley Joseph. She received a Pharmacology-Morphology fellowship from PhRMA to pursue postdoctoral work with Dr. Mariana Morris at Wake Forest University. She then joined Dr. Steven Childers´ laboratory where she pursued studies on the functional neuroanatomy of G-protein coupled receptors. She was promoted to a faculty position in the Physiology and Pharmacology Department at Wake Forest in 1995. In 1998 she accepted a position as assistant professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Virginia Commonwealth University, where her studies focus on signaling properties of opioid and cannabinoid receptors and adaptation following chronic drug exposure. She has been funded by NIDAsponsored grants since 1996. Laura has been a member of CPDD since 1999 and is a former NIDA and CPDD travel awardee. Throughout her career she has received constant support from her husband and collaborator Dr. Dana Selley.