Gisela Camacho Hernandez is the Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics Highlighted Trainee Author for the November 2022 issue. Currently, she is a visiting postdoctoral fellow at the National Institute on Drug Abuse - Intramural Research Program (NIDA-IRP). The JPET article that earned her selection as a Highlighted Trainee Author is titled "Differential Activation and Desensitization States Promoted by Noncanonical α7 Nicotinic Acetylcholine Receptor Agonists" and is available at https://jpet.aspetjournals.org/content/383/2/157.

Dr. Camacho Hernandez received her PhD in a combined program between the Autonomous University of Baja California (UABC) and the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) under the supervision of Professor Palmer Taylor (UCSD) and Dr. Jose Manuel Cornejo-Bravo (UABC). Her doctoral studies were directed toward the synthesis, pharmacological characterization, and crystallographic studies of novel non-canonical α7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists. After completing her PhD, she remained for a year working as a postdoctoral researcher under Dr. Palmer Taylor’s supervision at UCSD where the synthesis of the compounds described in the manuscript that earned her selection as the Highlighted Trainee Author was completed.

Currently, at the NIDA-IRP, under the supervision of Dr. Amy H. Newman, Dr. Camacho Hernandez is focused on the design, synthesis, and pharmacological characterization of novel fluorescent ligands targeting the monoamine transporters and cleavable probes for fluorescent labeling of the mµ-opioid receptor. The anticipated impact of her current research is the development of novel fluorescent tools to study and label endogenously expressed proteins with the aim of understanding their regulation/dysregulation, and potential development as diagnostic tools.

Outside the lab, Gisela is a plant enthusiast, who enjoys cooking, traveling, and hiking with her partner and their two dogs. She also enjoys having get-togethers with friends and family.