Richard Bell, Ph.D.

Richard L. Bell, Ph.D. Associate Research Professor
Personal Statement	The fact that the majority of adolescent and young adult deaths involve alcohol, underscores the need for developing and using animal models of adolescent alcohol abuse. There are a number of behavioral and neurobiological parallels between “peri-adolescents” of lower species and human adolescents and young adults. Most of my research focuses on the use of these animal models to provide a better “behavioral neuroscience” understanding as to why adolescents and young adults abuse alcohol as well as the development of pharmacological interventions for alcohol abuse and dependence.
Education	Undergraduate: Minot State University Graduate School: University of New Orleans Fellowship Postdoctoral Fellowship, Indiana University School of Medicine
Current Academic Interests	Teaching: Presently I am a Co-Facilitator for the Introduction to Clinical Medicine I course for 1st year Medical students. I also teach the Junior level Introduction to Statistics course in the Department of Psychology as well as serve on graduate Master’s and Dissertation (both internal and external) committees. In addition, I am a Co-Preceptor on the NIAAA Research Training Grant co-mentoring Post-Doctoral Fellows and Graduate students. Research: My research focus involves assessing phenotypic characteristics associated with high alcohol consumption in selectively bred, for high versus low alcohol consumption, and heterogeneous rat lines.
Recent Publications	Bell, R.L., Rodd, Z.A., Schultz, J.A., Peper, C.L., Lumeng, L., Murphy, J.M. & McBride, W.J. (2008). Effects of short deprivation and re-exposure intervals on the ethanol drinking behavior of selectively bred high alcohol-consuming rats. Alcohol, 42, 407-416. [PMID: 18486429] Bell, R.L., Rodd, Z.A., Toalston, J.E., McKinzie, D.L., Lumeng, L., Li, T.-K., McBride, W.J. & Murphy, J.M. (2008). Autonomic activation associated with ethanol self-administration in adult female P rats. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 91, 223-232. [PMID: 18713644] Bell, R.L., Kimpel, M.W., McClintick, J.N., Strother, W.N., Carr, L.G., Liang, T., Rodd, Z.A., Mayfield, R.D., Edenberg, H.J. & McBride, W.J. (2009). Gene expression changes in the nucleus accumbens of alcohol-preferring rats following chronic ethanol consumption. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 94, 131-147. [NIHMS137733]