BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH
Provide the following information for the Senior/key personnel and other significant contributors in the order listed on Form Page 2.
Follow this format for each person. DO NOT EXCEED FOUR PAGES.
NAME
POSITION TITLE
Gregg E. Homanics, PhD
Professor of Anesthesiology and Pharmacology &
Chemical Biology
eRA COMMONS USER NAME (credential, e.g., agency login)
homanicsge
EDUCATION/TRAINING (Begin with baccalaureate or other initial professional education, such as nursing, include postdoctoral training and
residency training if applicable.)
DEGREE
INSTITUTION AND LOCATION
MM/YY
FIELD OF STUDY
(if applicable)
Penn. State Univ.(Fayette Campus)
West Virginia Univ. (Morgantown, WV)
Univ. Kentucky (Lexington, KY)
North Carolina State Univ. (Raleigh, NC)
Univ. of North Carolina (Chapel Hill, NC)
--
12/80
BS
MS
PhD
postdoc.
05/84
07/87
05/91
05/93
Pre-Medicine
Animal and Vet. Sci.
Animal Science
Animal Science
Molecular Genetics
A. Personal Statement
As a postdoctoral fellow at UNC-CH in the labs of N. Maeda and O. Smithies (Nobel Prize, 2007), I
conducted pioneering studies in the development of gene knockout mice. Since moving to the U. of
Pittsburgh, I have focused my efforts on using genetically modified animals to investigate the molecular
mechanisms of action of ethanol and general anesthetics. In addition to creating numerous global gene
knockout, transgenic, knockin, and conditional knockout mouse lines, I also pioneered an approach for
creating conditional gene knockin mice. I also have an extensive track record of successfully using my
mouse genetic engineering skills in collaborations with other investigators in a variety of research areas
that are beyond the primary focus of my laboratory.
B. Positions and Honors
Positions and Employment
Dates
1/86-7/87
8/87-3/91
4/91-5/93
6/93-7/01
7/01-7/08
8/08-present
Position
Graduate assistant
Graduate assistant
Postdoctoral fellow
Assist. Professor
Assoc. Professor
Professor
Institution
Univ. Kentucky
North Carolina State U.
Univ. North Carolina
Univ. Pittsburgh
Univ. Pittsburgh
Univ. Pittsburgh
Department
Animal Science
Animal Science
Pathology
Anesthesiology/CCM and Pharm.
Anesthesiology and Pharmacology
Anesthesiology and Pharm. & Chem. Biol.
Honors and Other Professional Activities
1991-1993
National Research Service Award Individual Postdoctoral Fellowship, NIH
1999
University of Pittsburgh Distinguished Mentor Award
1999-present University of Pittsburgh IACUC (2001-2004, Chair)
2002-2005
National Institutes of Health, AA-1 regular member
2005-present Faculty of 1000 Medicine, Evaluation Board Member, Anesthesiology and Pain Management
2005
National Institute of Mental Health, Board of Scientific Counselors, ad hoc reviewer
2006-present Alcohol, editorial board member
2008-present Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, review editor
2010-2014
National Institutes of Health, Neurotoxicology and Alcohol Study Section
-Regular member (chair 2012-2014)
2010
National Institutes of Health MERIT Award
C. Selected peer-reviewed publications (selected from 123 peer-reviewed publications)
Homanics GE, Smith TJ, Zhang SH, Lee D, Young SG, Maeda N (1993) Targeted modification of the apolipoprotein B
gene results in hypobetalipoproteinemia and developmental abnormalities in mice. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA
90:2389-2393.
Huntsman MM, Porcello DM, Homanics GE, DeLorey TM, Huguenard JR (1999) Reciprocal inhibitory connections control
network synchrony in the mammalian thalamus. Science 283:541-543.
Chandra D, Jia F, Liang J, Peng Z, Suryanarayanan A, Werner DF, Spigelman I, Houser CR, Olsen RW, Harrison NL,
Homanics GE (2006) GABAA receptor α4 subunits mediate extrasynaptic inhibition in thalamus and dentate gyrus
and the action of gaboxadol. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 103:15230-15235.
Skvorak K, Vissel B, Homanics GE (2006) Production of conditional point mutant knockin mice. Genesis 44:345-353.
Werner DF, Blednov YA, Borghese CM, Henderson LA, Ariwodola OJ, Silberman Y, Logan E, Berry RB, Matthews DB,
Weiner JL, Harrison NL, Harris RA, Homanics GE (2006) Knockin mice harboring ethanol insensitive alpha1containing GABAA receptors display selective alterations in behavioral responses to ethanol. J Pharmacol Exp
Ther 319:219-227.
Ferguson C, Hardy SL, Werner DF, Hileman SM, DeLorey TM, Homanics GE (2007) New insight into the role of the β3
subunit of the GABAA-R in development, behavior, body weight regulation, and anesthesia revealed by
conditional gene knockout. BMC Neurosci:85.
Glykys J, Peng Z, Chandra D, Homanics GE, Houser CR, Mody I (2007) A novel naturally occuring GABAA receptor
partnership with high sensitivity to ethanol. Nat Neurosci 10:40-48.
Chandra D, Werner DF, Olsen RW, Harrison NL, Homanics GE (2008) Normal acute behavioral responses to
moderate/high dose ethanol in GABAA receptor α4 subunit knockout mice. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 32:10-18.
PMCID: PMC2896280.
Blednov YA, Walker DL, Iyer SV, Homanics G, Harris AR (2010) Mice lacking Gad2 show altered behavioral effects of
ethanol, flurazepam and gabaxadol. Addict Biol 15:45-61. PMCID: PMC PMC3038569.
Haselkorn ML, Shellington D, Jackson E, Vagni VA, Janesko KL, Dubey RK, Gillespie DG, Cheng D, Bell MJ, Jenkins LW,
Homanics GE, Schnermann J, Kochanek PM (2010) Adenosine A1 receptor activation as a brake on the
microglial response after experimental traumatic brain injury in mice. J Neurotrauma 27:901-910. PMCID:
PMC2943944.
Jentarra GM, Olfers SL, Rice SG, Srivastava N, Homanics GE, Blue M, Naidu S, Narayanan V (2010) Abnormalities of
cell packing density and dendritic complexity in the MeCP2 A140V mouse model of Rett syndrome/X-linked
mental retardation. BMC Neurosci 11:19. PMCID: PMC 2836362.
Wilking JA, Hesterberg KG, Crouch EL, Homanics GE, Stitzel JA (2010) Chrna4 A529 knock-in mice exhibit altered
nicotine sensitivity. Pharmacogenet Genomics 20:121-130. PMCID: PMC2919848.
Blednov YA, Borghese CM, McCracken ML, Benavidez JM, Geil CR, Osterndorff-Kahanek E, Werner DF, Iyer S, Swihart
A, Harrison NL, Homanics GE, Harris RA (2011) Loss of ethanol conditioned taste aversion and motor stimulation
in knockin mice with ethanol-insensitive alpha2-containing GABA(A) receptors. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 336:145154. PMCID: PMC 3014308.
Werner DF, Swihart A, Rau V, Jia F, Borghese CM, McCracken ML, Iyer S, Fanselow MS, Oh I, Sonner JM, Eger EI, 2nd,
Harrison NL, Harris RA, Homanics GE (2011) Inhaled anesthetic responses of recombinant receptors and knockin
mice harboring alpha2(S270H/L277A) GABA(A) receptor subunits that are resistant to isoflurane. J Pharmacol
Exp Ther 336:134-144. PMCID: PMC 3014300.
Blednov YA, Benavidez JM, Homanics GE, Harris RA (2012) Behavioral characterization of KI mice with mutations M287L
and Q266I in the GlyR 1 subunit. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 340: 317-329. PMCID: PMC3263963.
Borghese CM, Blednov YA, Quan Y, Iyer SV, Xiong W, Mihic SJ, Zhang L, Lovinger DM, Trudell JR, Homanics GE, Harris
RA (2012) Characterization of two mutations, M287L and Q266I, in the 1 glycine receptor subunit that modify
sensitivity to alcohols and anesthetics. J Pharmacol Exp Ther 340: 304-316. PMCID: PMC3263968.
Borghese CM, Xiong W, Oh SI, Ho A, Mihic SJ, Zhang L, Lovinger DM, Homanics GE, Eger EI, 2nd, Harris RA (2012)
Mutations M287L and Q266I in the Glycine Receptor alpha1 Subunit Change Sensitivity to Volatile Anesthetics in
Oocytes and Neurons, but Not the Minimal Alveolar Concentration in Knockin Mice. Anesthesiology 117:765-771.
PMCID: PMC 3447119.
Sabaliauskas N, Shen H, Homanics GE, Smith SS, Aoki C (2012) Knockout of the gamma-aminobutyric acid receptor
subunit alpha4 reduces functional delta-containing extrasynaptic receptors in hippocampal pyramidal cells at the
onset of puberty. Brain Res 1450:11-23. PMCID: PMC 3319511.