MD/PhD Candidate
UNC MD/PhD Program & NIH Graduate Partnerships Program
Rani Richardson, B.A., is an MD/PhD student in the University of North Carolina's medical scientist training program. She is enrolled in an individual Graduate Partnership Program between the University of North Carolina and the NIH. Rani began her PhD in 2020 at the NIH and is a joint trainee between the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Located at the NIDA campus in Baltimore, MD, she is co-mentored by Lorenzo Leggio of the Clinical Psychoneuroendocrinology and Neuropsychopharmacology Section (CPN), Leandro Vendruscolo of the Stress and Addiction Neuroscience Unit (SANU), and George Koob of the Neurobiology of Addiction Section (NOAS). Rani’s thesis project involves collaborative research projects between these laboratories. Her research investigates the relationships between addiction, stress, and the gastrointestinal tract. She studies the microbiome-gut-brain axis in an effort to identify novel neuropsychopharmacological targets for alcohol use disorder and stress-related mood disorders. Prior to enrolling in the MD/PhD program, Rani graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Basis of Behavior and a minor in Chemistry. Rani’s long-term goal is to practice medicine as a physician-scientist and lead a research program as an independent investigator. Rani is grateful to the University of North Carolina and the NIH GPP program for the opportunity to employ a unique approach to the study of alcohol use disorder, and is grateful to the mentors and colleagues that have made this work possible. She would also like to thank the ASAM conference for the opportunity to share her work with our research community.
