Nicole Schramm-Sapyta Email & Phone Number

I am an enthusiastic leader in the classroom, in working with my team, and in working with volunteers. I am happiest when my work allows me to use my scientific knowledge about mental health, drug addiction, and incarceration to improve conditions for those who have experienced these situations. My overarching goal is to reduce stigma and to guide policy makers, decision-makers, and all of society to act in just, humane, and supportive ways. The description that I wrote for myself as a young scientist (around 2006, I believe) is below. You can see that in the intervening years, my career has moved from basic scientific research into organizational leadership, with an emphasis on mental health and substance use disorders. As I said then, I am always learning!2006 Description:As a graduate student, my mentor taught me that Mother Nature is always right, but it’s up to us to ask the right questions. That philosophy has stuck with me over the years and has been foundational to the work I’ve done—both as an educator and as a researcher. In my work, I strive to not only ask the right questions, but to develop or refine a process that can be adopted and applied by others. To me, science at its best is the thoughtful pursuit of truth in a way that develops both a product and a process. This is what I teach my students in the classroom, and it’s what I live by in the lab.A good example of that attitude in action is my recent work to develop a behavioral task in rats that measures a form of impulsivity relevant to ADHD and drug addiction. I adapted a task already documented in the literature, simplifying it greatly and making it more feasible and useful for the scientific community. This research was exciting because it was innovative, I learned new things, and I broke new ground.I like to “do” science, but I also like to talk about doing science. I’m quite good at explaining advanced scientific or technical concepts to a broad range of people; this is one reason my undergraduate students at Duke University have rated my classes so highly over the last seven years. Teaching has also taught me about leadership, enthusiasm, and how to motivate students. Ultimately, we’re all students at heart. We’re all still learning. For my part, I want to keep asking the right questions, innovating new ideas, and sharing my work with others.Specialties: ✔ Pharmacology ✔ Biochemistry ✔ Neuroscience✔ Drug Development via Animal Models ✔ Experimental Design ✔ Scientific Communication

Listed skills include Rodent Husbandry, Radio Immuno Assays, Pharmacokinetic Analysis, Behavioral Pharmacology, and 44 others.