Kevin Coffey, PhD

I am a behavioral neuroscientist who earned my PhD from Rutgers University and completed a postdoc here, in the Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences Department at the University of Washington. My lab, located in the MIRECC at VA Puget Sound, aims to identify the neural mechanisms underlying substance use disorders and maladaptive decision making.

My primary focus is studying the neurobiological consequences and predictors of chronic fentanyl use. To accomplish this, I utilize cutting-edge in-vivo optical neuroscience tools (photometry, optogenetics, miniscopes) along with a newly developed oral-fentanyl self-administration model for rats and mice. I am also the lead developer for DeepSqueak, a popular software package for bioacoustics analysis that integrates machine-vision algorithms with an intuitive graphical interface to accelerate animal communication research.

Department Affiliations

Other Affiliations

VA Puget Sound Healthcare System

Recent Publications

Rapid appearance of negative emotion during oral fentanyl self-administration in male and female rats.
(2023 Dec)
Addict Biol 28(12): e13344
Coffey KR, Nickelson WB, Dawkins AJ, Neumaier JF

Nucleus accumbens shell neurons' early sensitivity to cocaine is associated with future increases in drug intake.
(2023 Dec)
Addict Neurosci 8():
Crawley AK, Sharma A, Coffey KR, West MO, Barker DJ

A unique role for cAMP signaling in microglia during opioid tolerance and withdrawal.
(2024 Jan)
Neuropsychopharmacology 49(1): 331-332
Coffey KR, Neumaier JF

Rapid appearance of negative emotion during oral fentanyl self-administration in male and female rats.
(2023 May 11)
bioRxiv
Coffey KR, Nickelson W, Dawkins AJ, Neumaier JF

Assessing impact of agroecological interventions in Niger through remotely sensed changes in vegetation.
(2023 Jan 7)
Sci Rep 13(1): 360
Mishra V, Limaye AS, Doehnert F, Policastro R, Hassan D, Ndiaye MTY, Abel NV, Johnson K, Grange J, Coffey K, Rashid A

Show complete publication list »
Edit Profile