Chana Akins

Chana Akins, Ph.D., is a full Professor of Psychology and a leading behavioral neuroscientist whose federally-funded program explores how drugs of abuse alter natural reward circuits underlying sexual motivation, associative learning, and inhibitory control. Active in both the Neuroscience and Substance Use Research Priority Areas, she has published 51 peer-reviewed works since 1990, secured multiple NIDA grants, and earned prestigious honors including APA Fellow and the Clifford T. Morgan Distinguished Service Award.

Education:

• Ph.D. Psychology, University of Texas at Austin (1994)
• M.S. Psychology, Texas Tech University (1989)
• B.S. Psychology, Texas Tech University (1987)

Research Focus:
Dr. Akins integrates in-vivo pharmacology, Pavlovian conditioning, and comparative models—primarily Japanese quail—to dissect how ethanol, cocaine, methamphetamine and nicotine hijack sexual reward pathways and executive control. Recent work extends these questions to human drinkers using crowdsourced digital tasks, bridging animal and clinical translation.

Publication Trends:
Across 2022-2024 her laboratory has elucidated dose-dependent ethanol reward/aversion in quail, identified glucocorticoid receptor modulation of sign-tracking, revealed sex-specific alcohol metabolism, and demonstrated alcohol-cue disruption of inhibitory control in heavy drinkers—highlighting a trajectory from mechanism to human behavior.

Honors & Awards:

• Fellow, American Psychological Association (2014)
• Clifford T. Morgan Distinguished Service Award, APA Div. 6 (2011)
• Fellow, American Council on Education (2018)
• Women’s Executive Leadership Development (WELD) Honoree (2017)
• Academic Leadership Academy (BHEC) Recognition (2016)

Grants & Leadership:
As PI or Co-I on five major federal/university grants totaling >$5M, she has directed projects ranging from prenatal cocaine effects on sexual motivation to normative crowdsourced alcohol-cognition data. She has served in editorial, review, and governance roles for APA, NIDA study sections, and university strategic councils.

Labs & Teams:
Dr. Akins heads an active research group that maintains avian vivaria, behavioral pharmacology suites, and collaborative links with clinical alcohol researchers, supporting training for graduate students, post-docs, and undergraduates across psychology, neuroscience, and animal sciences.