Subhash Pandey

Subhash Pandey (Photo: Jenny Fontaine/UIC)

Subhash Pandey, the Joseph A. Flaherty, MD, Endowed Professor of Psychiatry and director of the UIC Center for Alcohol Research in Epigenetics, is an internationally recognized expert on the impact of alcohol on the brain and behaviors. Pandey’s research has uncovered several epigenetic processes modulated by alcohol that can modify gene expression and leave lasting effects on the developing adolescent brain.

Pandey also has zeroed in on another type of epigenetics that involves microRNA. These noncoding RNA molecules can be affected by alcohol and, in turn, alter gene expression. His lab is also working on epitranscriptomic landscape of alcohol use disorder.

Pandey is also investigating how alcohol-related epigenetic changes influence “synaptic remodeling” — the networking of nerve cells to each other — and how these changes correlate with behavior, such as anxiety and depression. He also is investigating whether epigenetics plays a role in the withdrawal symptoms that make abstinence difficult.