Paul Phillips, PhD

Personal Statement

My lab’s focus is reward processing, how it differs under behavior phenotypes that are more vulnerable or resilient to mental illness and how it is changed by psychiatric pathology. Our primary focus is dopamine transmission and the circuits in which is participates.

We developed tools that allow us to track dopamine with sub-second resolution in animals over the course of months (Clark et al, Nat Methods, 2010). This approach allows us to study trajectories of precise neurochemical encoding of behaviors over the course of the development of symptomology and subsequent treatment in animal models of disease. We also have adapted this technology for intraoperative recording in humans (Kishida et al, PLoS One, 2011).

Our research highlights include contributions in the area of dopamine’s role in learning (Flagel et al, Nature, 2012), decision making (Gan et al, Nat Neurosci, 2010) and goal navigation (Howe et al, Nature, 2013). We have gleaned information on how stress impacts appetitive motivation (Wanat et al, Nat Neurosci, 2013), how adolescent alcohol use produces enhanced risk taking later in life (Clark et al, PLoS One, 2012), and identified biological mechanisms for the motivational shift in stress-induced depressive disorders (Lemos et al, Nature, 2012) and the switch to excessive drug intake in substance abuse (Willuhn et al, Nat Neurosci, 2014).

These approaches have attracted a large number of collaborations, including National Academy members Akil, Palmiter, Graybiel and Kandel.

Education

PhD, Neuroscience, University of London, 1999
BS, Physiology, University of Liverpool, 1993

Department Affiliations

Recent Publications

Nucleus Accumbens Dopamine Encodes the Trace Period during Appetitive Pavlovian Conditioning.
(2025 May)
eNeuro 12(5):
Wanat MJ, Garcia-Castañeda BI, Alducin-Martinez C, Cedillo LG, Camacho ET, Phillips PEM

Investigating drug-induced optic nerve hypoplasia and septo-optic dysplasia from the FDA adverse events database.
(2025 May 22)
Can J Ophthalmol
Ali A, Azhari JO, Gise R, Solyman O, Phillips P, Elhusseiny AM

Pregnancy and Diabetic Retinopathy: A Report From the All of Us Research Program.
(2025 May 19)
Ophthalmol Retina
Hallaj S, Chauhan MZ, Shakarchi AF, Phillips PH, Sallam AB

Risk of Giant Cell Arteritis Among Patients Presenting With Undifferentiated Non-Infectious Uveitis.
(2025 May 14)
Ophthalmology
Chauhan MZ, Muayad J, Chacko JA, Loya A, Hussain ZS, Charoenkijkajorn C, Phillips PH, Chacko JG, Sallam AB

More than just a prime: Cocaine gives monkeys the munchies.
(2025 May 3)
J Pharmacol Exp Ther 392(6): 103580
Gordon-Fennell L, Phillips PEM

Show complete publication list »
Edit Profile