Cindy Funk, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Structural Medicine

Originally from Montana, Dr. Funk received her Bachelor of Science from Montana State University in Biological Sciences in 1999. During her undergraduate years, Dr. Funk worked in a research lab which studied the role of stress in mediating plasticity of a specific set of cells within the anterior pituitary gland. She also was actively involved as a teaching assistant in Comparative Anatomy, which helped develop her interest in human anatomy.

Dr. Funk conducted her doctoral work at Texas A & M University, earning a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Neurobiology in 2003. Dr. Funk was the recipient of a predoctoral training award from National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The focus of her dissertation was the neurobiological mechanisms underlying alcohol and nicotine addiction. In addition to research, Dr. Funk also taught human anatomy and medical histology to first year medical students.

Following the completion of her dissertation, Dr. Funk moved to San Diego where she completed a 3-year postdoctoral training period at The Scripps Research Institute. Dr. Funk was the recipient of a postdoctoral training award from NIAAA which supported her research work during this time. Again, the focus of her research work was the neurobiological mechanisms underlying alcohol addiction. More specifically, she was involved with developing an animal model of alcohol-dependence and investigating the role of anxiety in mediating drinking and relapse behaviors.

In 2005, Dr. Funk received the Enoch Gordis award for her research, an award given to the top postdoctoral researchers at the Research Society on Alcoholism annual meeting. In 2006, Dr. Funk earned a research award from the French society, Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale, which allowed her to conduct medical research at the Université of Bordeaux for 1 year.

On a personal note, Dr. Funk’s hobbies include hiking in the mountains, travelling, learning to speak French, her two cats (Todd and Ted), and watching Denver Bronco football!

Selected Publications
Funk CK, Zorrilla EP, Lee MJ, Rice KC, Koob GF (2007) CRF1 antagonists selectively reduce ethanol self-administration in ethanol-dependent animals. Biological Psych 61, 78-86.

Funk CK, O’Dell LE, Crawford EF, Koob GF (2006) Corticotropin-releasing factor within the central nucleus of the amygdala mediates enhanced ethanol self-administration in withdrawn, ethanol-dependent rats. Journal of Neuroscience 26, 11324-11332.

Funk CK and Koob GF (2007) Administration of a CRF2 agonist into the central nucleus of the amygdala attenuates withdrawal-induced ethanol self-administration in ethanol dependent rats. Brain Research 1155, 172-178.

Funk CK, Dohrman DP (2007) Chronic ethanol exposure inhibits dopamine release via effects on the presynaptic actin cytoskeleton in PC12 cells. Brain Research, 1185, 86-94.
Dohrman DP, Reiter-Funk CK (2003) Chronic ethanol reduces nicotine-induced dopamine release in PC12 cells. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 27: 1846-51.