Professor Andrew Harkin

Andrew Harkin is Professor in Pharmacology in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in Trinity College Dublin. He is a graduate of NUI Galway (B.Sc. 1994; Ph.D. 1998) and prior to joining Trinity College held a lecturing post in the School of Pharmacy, University College Cork. He was elected to Fellowship in Trinity College in 2011. Over the course of his research career he worked in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the University of Mississippi Medical Center, Safety Pharmacology Laboratories at H. Lunbeck A/S Valby, Copenhagen and has held post-doctoral research fellowships funded by the Higher Education Authority (Programme for Research in Third Level Institutions) and the Health Research Board of Ireland (career development award, 2002). He leads the Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group in Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience (TCIN) funded by the European Commission (Framework 7 - Brain Imaging Return to Health [R'Birth], a Marie Curie international training network for early stage and experienced researchers and MOODINFLAME; a collaborative, large-scale focused research project with a variety of academic and industrial partners focused on early diagnosis, treatment and prevention of mood disorders targeting the activated inflammatory response system. He has also received project funding from Science Foundation Ireland, Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council. His group collaborates with a variety of academic and industrial partners on fundamental and clinical projects. Current research interests include bi-directional nervous system immune interactions, the role of stress and inflammation in the pathogenesis of mental illness, potential of anti-inflammatory agents in treating neurological and psychiatric disorders, targeting glutamate neuronal transmission in neuropsychiatric disorders and safety pharmacology of recreational drugs. He has co-authored peer-reviewed publications, book chapters and published abstracts/conference proceedings and delivered invited lectures and oral presentations at international conferences, workshops and various research institutions. He is a member of the International College of Neuropsychopharmacolgy (CINP), the British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) and the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society (PNIRS) and is a past recipient of the CINP Rafaelsen award in recognition of his commitment to the field of neuropsychopharmacology. He is on the editorial boards of a number of journals including Acta Neuropsychiatrica, Brain Behavior and Immunity, PLOS ONE, and Frontiers in Neuropharmacology and Behavioural Neuroscience. He is a founder member of the Depression Interest Group, currently serves as deputy director of the Trinity College Institute of Neuroscience and chairs the Animal Welfare Body in TCD. He has a long standing track record in mentoring and training of PhD students, 25 students having completed to date, and has participated in PhD training programmes in TCIN funded under the auspices of the PRTLI. He currently teaches on a number of undergraduate and postgraduate taught programmes in TCD including the Pharmacy degree, B.A. Moderatorship in Neuroscience and M.Sc. programmes in Pharmaceutical Sciences, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing Technology, Neuroscience, Addiction Recovery and Molecular Medicine and is former Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Learning in the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

  Addiction and substance abuse   Animal Research Policy   Depression   Emotional, behavioural and cognitive disorders   Ethics/Values in Science and Technology   Histology   Histology, Cytochemistry, Histochemistry   Imaging Techniques   In vitro testing, trial methods   MDMA ("Ecstasy")   Medicine   Neurobiology   Neurochemistry and neuropharmacology   Neurodegeneration   Neuroimaging   Neuroimmunology   Neuropharmacology   Neuroplasticity   Neuroscience   Neurotoxicity   PHARMACODYNAMICS   PHARMACOKINETIC   PHARMACOLOGICAL CHARACTERIZATION   PHARMACOLOGICAL EVIDENCE   PHARMACOLOGICAL TREATMENT   PHARMACOLOGY   Physiology   Psychiatry   Stress Response, Neuroanatomy

My research falls within the remit of Neuropsychopharmacology, a discipline that links neuroscience to the pharmacological treatment of psychiatric and neurological disorders. My work contributes to understanding the psychopharmacology of nitric oxide (NO), targeting glutamate neuronal transmission for antidepressant action, the role of stress and inflammation in the pathogenesis of brain disorders, anti-inflammatory properties of noradrenergic agents as a potential therapeutic strategy in neurodegenerative disorders and safety pharmacology of recreational drugs, reported in peer-reviewed publications in international journals. My group utilize a range of behavioural, imaging, molecular, cellular and analytical techniques including bottom up laboratory and top down clinical approaches and I have ongoing collaborations with a number of industrial partners and investigators from a variety of disciplines. Current research on neuroinflammation and glia-neuronal interactions is focused on molecular pathways including glutamate-NO, noradrenaline and tryptophan-kynurenine pathways implicated in neurodegeneration in efforts to identify pharmacological interventions of potential therapeutic benefit. Furthermore, inhibition of the glutamate NMDA receptor (NMDA-R) subtype has shown considerable promise as a drug target to produce new antidepressants that work faster, and are more effective than existing antidepressants. A working hypothesis is that targeting signaling events down-stream of NMDA-R including NO may provide a more viable approach and current research is assessing such targets for development of novel antidepressant agents. I have engaged in projects funded by the European Commission including "ReBirth", a Marie Curie funded international training network for early stage and experienced researchers; MOODINFLAME, a collaborative research project with a variety of academic and industrial partners focused on targeting the activated inflammatory response system in mood disorders; and participated in "MolCellbio", a PhD training programme funded by the Higher Education Authority. I have also received funding from Science Foundation Ireland, Health Research Board and the Irish Research Council.