I am a junior faculty in the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology at Meharry Medical College since January 2014. I was recruited as a new investigator through a Meharry Research Center for Minority Institution (RCMI) Program in Women's Health Research sponsored by National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (NIMHD) (G12 MD007586, 2014-2016). Before appointed as Assistant Professor at Meharry, I was a post-doctoral fellow at a lab led by Dr. Klaus A. Miczek at the Department of Psychology at Tufts University, who is specialized in psychopharmacology and behavioral neuroscience. I am an awardee on NIDA INVEST Drug Abuse Research Fellowship that initiated my postdoctoral work with Dr. Miczek. Before I came to Tufts, I was an Assistant Professor in field of forensic toxicology at Yamaguchi University School of Medicine. I received my Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in forensic science with a specialty in forensic toxicology. My current focus is on astrocytes, glutamate, and its amidated form glutamine, glutamate transporter-1 (GLT-1), sodium-coupled neutral amino acid transporters 1/2 (SNAT1/2), and presynaptic mitochondria in brain areas including the prefrontal cortex (PFC) and the nucleus accumbens (NAc). I have an expertise in in vivo microdialysis, immunohistochemistry, western blot, and behavioral assays, including locomotor activity, social defeat behaviors, and operant self-administration and relapsing behavior.