Jared R. Bagley

Jared R. Bagley is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Binghamton University, where he joined in 2024. His research focuses on the genetics and neurobiology of substance use disorders through integrated behavioral, neuroscience, genetic, and genomic approaches.

His educational background includes the following degrees:

• Postdoctoral Fellowship at Binghamton University
• PhD in Neuroscience and Behavior from the University of California, Santa Barbara
• BA in Psychology from the University of California, Davis

Bagley's research spans behavioral pharmacology, addiction neurogenetics, and genomics/transcriptomics. He employs behavioral pharmacology, advanced mouse genetics (Hybrid Mouse Diversity Panel, Collaborative Cross, Diversity Outbred), pharmacogenomics, and physiological neuroscience techniques to identify genetic factors driving addictive behaviors and their neural impacts, with specific focus on cocaine self-administration and nucleus accumbens dopamine transmission.

His recent publications (2021-2025) reveal consistent emphasis on genetic architecture of substance use disorders using diverse mouse populations to study cocaine/alcohol addiction. Research integrates behavioral phenotyping with genetic mapping, highlighting polygenic influences and candidate genes (e.g., Neuron Navigator 1) in drug response, reward processing, and cognitive flexibility related to addiction vulnerability.

His scientific awards include:

• NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Career Development Award
• Carlisle Award, University of California, Santa Barbara (2016)
• Leading the Search, The Jackson Laboratory (2011)

Bagley maintains extensive teaching and mentorship commitments with holistic student development philosophy emphasizing learning, curiosity, creativity, inclusion, and respect. His current NIH-NIDA K99/R00-funded research investigates how polygenic factors and candidate genes affecting cocaine self-administration alter dopamine transmission in the nucleus accumbens.

The Bagley lab operates cutting-edge methodologies including fiber photometry, optogenetic fast-scan cyclic voltammetry, and advanced genetic mouse models to dissect neural mechanisms of addiction at molecular, cellular, and circuit levels.