Elaine Gay

Elaine Gay, Ph.D., is a neuropharmacologist focused on the discovery and development of novel therapeutics for substance use disorder. Her work is aimed at understanding the structure and function of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR) and their role in regulating brain circuits involved in both normal physiology and disease states. Her recent work centers around the development of novel chemical probes for a subfamily of constitutively active orphan GPCRs: GPR3, GPR6 and GPR12. These GPCRs, expressed in the CNS, with links to drug abuse, pain, and Parkinson’s disease represent exciting new therapeutic targets. Dr. Gay’s research interests also include functional selectivity (ligand-bias) of novel drugs at GPCRs. She studies the unique signaling properties of functionally selective compounds and how varied cellular signaling profiles translate into behavioral and therapeutic outcomes across neurobiological disorders.

With in the Center for Drug Discovery, Dr. Gay is involved in cell-based assay development and lead optimization of new compounds for GPCRs and ion channels. She has experience with high-throughput screening assays for hit identification, hit to lead pharmacological characterizations for SAR campaigns, and early stage ADME and PK profiling for drug development.