Sandra J. Kelly

Adjunct Faculty
Department of Pharmacology, Physiology & Neuroscience
Professor, Psychology Department
University of South Carolina

Ph.D. McGill University, 1985.
Postdoctoral fellow, University of Iowa and
Center for Behavioral Teratology at the State University of New York at Albany.

Research Focus:

The main focus of the research in my laboratory uses an animal model of Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder to investigate the effects of alcohol exposure during development on the nervous system and behavior. We have demonstrated that alcohol exposure during development has a significant impact on social behavior and the neural regions underlying social behavior. We are currently investigating the hypothesis that the alcohol-induced deficits in social behavior are due to alterations in the ability to process sensory signals. In addition, the possibility that environment can either mitigate or exacerbate some of alcohol's effects on social behavior is being investigated. Our research use automatic tracking of behavior, sophisticated behavioral observation techniques, psychopharmacological manipulations, neuroanatomical techniques, including Golgi and autoradiography, and neurochemical assays. We also have on-going collaborations with multiple investigators in the Department of Pharmacology, Physiology and Neuroscience.

Recent Publications

• Lugo, J. N., Jr., Marino, M. D., Gass, J. T., Wilson, M. A. and Kelly, S. J. (2006) Alcohol exposure during development reduces resident aggression and testosterone in rats. Physiology and Behavior 87: 330-337.
• Lugo, J. N., Jr., Wilson, M. A. and Kelly S. J. (2006) Perinatal ethanol exposure alters met-enkephalin levels of male and female rats. Neuroteratology and Toxicology 28: 238 - 244.
• Lawrence, R. C., Bonner, H. C., Newsom, R. J. and Kelly, S. J. (2007) Effects of alcohol exposure during development on play behavior and c-Fos expression in response to play behavior. Behavioural Brain Research, in press.
• Gass, J. T., Jenkins, W. J., Marino, M. D., Lugo, Jr., J. N. And Kelly, S. J. (2007) Alcohol exposure during development: Analysis of effects on female sexual behavior. Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research 31: 2065-2072.