Laura Erwin, PhD

Laura Erwin, PhD, is a post-doctoral research fellow in the Preclinical Pharmacology Program at McLean Hospital. Her research focuses on elucidating the pharmacological mechanisms and neurobiology that mediate the behavioral effects of drug of abuse. Dr. Erwin received her PhD at LSU Health Sciences Center in April 2019. Her thesis focused on the interactive effects of cannabinoids and opioids, utilizing complex behavioral assays. She joined the Preclinical Pharmacology Program under Dr. Carol Paronis in June 2019.

Dr. Erwin’s current research focuses on the potential hallucinogenic-like effects of highly potent synthetic cannabinoids. More recently, she has received the Livingston Fellowship in which she plans to investigate the effects of cannabinoid agonists that vary in affinity and efficacy to induce neurological disruption using noninvasive electroencephalogram (EEG) recordings.