Graduate researcher leads landmark methamphetamine treatment systematic review
Publishing a paper in a top-tier journal is a major accomplishment for faculty members. For first-year graduate students, it's almost unheard of. Alexandra N. Johansen, a psychology Ph.D. student at the University of Kentucky College of Arts and Sciences, has done exactly that, serving as the lead author of a comprehensive systematic review recently published in Pharmacological Reviews.
Alexandra N. Johansen, a Ph.D. student in psychology at the University of Kentucky, has recently led a groundbreaking study on methamphetamine use disorder (MUD). This comprehensive systematic review, published in the top-tier journal, Pharmacological Reviews, tackles the critical issue of limited FDA-approved medications for treating MUD.
As the lead author, Johansen's achievement is particularly noteworthy for a first-year graduate student. The research highlights the urgent need for effective treatments, as methamphetamine overdose fatalities have surpassed those caused by fentanyl in Kentucky. The study reveals that only five medications have shown promise across preclinical, laboratory, and clinical trials, while most candidates failed to demonstrate significant changes in methamphetamine use.
Johansen's work emphasizes the importance of robust preclinical research and provides a roadmap for future drug development, focusing on pharmacological targets that show the most promise in treating methamphetamine use disorder.
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