Erin N. Bobeck, Ph.D.

Principal Investigator

Assistant Professor
Department of Biology
Utah State University

Email: erin.bobeck@usu.edu

Graduate Students

Akila Ram

PhD Student, Biology

Akila is a PhD student in the Bobeck Lab. She joined USU following her Master's, where she studied cell cycle-linked apoptosis. Her work in the Bobeck Lab aims to address brain circuitry changes following opioid tolerance. She plans to pursue a career in biomedical research.

Email: akila.ram@aggiemail.usu.edu

Max McDermott

PhD Student, Neuroscience

​Max is interested in the molecular basis of behavior. In particular he is most fascinated by the mechanisms that underlie tolerance to opioids. Recently he has been looking at the role of the GPR171-BigLEN system on morphine-induced tolerance. His belief in the need for better pain therapeutics with safer side effects keeps him pipetting and behavioral assaying all week long.

Email: max.mcdermott@aggiemail.usu.edu

Leela Afrose

Master's Student, Biology

Leela began working in the Bobeck Lab in Fall 2017. She received her undergraduate degree in Dentistry from Chittagong Medical College, Bangladesh. Currently her work aims to decode and elucidate the role of neuropeptide receptor system BigLEN-GPR171 in pain, antinociception, and opioid tolerance. She plans to pursue a Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology.
 
Email: leela.afrose@aggiemail.usu.edu

Undergraduate Researchers

Taylor Edwards

As a biology major, being involved in research will allow me to learn the language of the biology discipline and provide me with the opportunity to more deeply understand and appreciate biology. With this greater understanding and appreciation, I hope to continue on to dental school to ultimately become an orthodontist. ​

Levi Wilkes

Within academia I enjoy learning about the human body, and human behavior. I have participated in multiple research labs in the biology department. I currently am working in Dr. Bobeck's Lab, and I find opioid  adaptations, especially the different mechanisms of tolerance, very intriguing. I am also excited about exploring the GPR171 receptor, since so little about it is known. I am also involved with and help lead the USUSA Excellence in Neuroscience Club here at USU.   I am planning to pursue Medical school, going on to become either a Radiologist or Psychiatrist. 

Joseph Allred

​I initially became interested in working in Dr. Bobeck’s lab when I realized that science should be more than reading a textbook and taking a test. Taking a biology class from Dr. Bobeck--and hearing snippets of her current research projects--piqued my interest in this particular G-protein coupled receptor, GPR171. Her lab’s research is novel and important; an overwhelmingly large portion of the population suffers through chronic pain, including many individuals who are close to me. Although this level of science is new to me, I am excited to learn, develop, and apply methodologies of biological research. I’m a Chemistry major and am planning on applying to medical school in 2019.