Dr. Erica Levitt has been installed as the as the inaugural Dr. Emily Jutkiewicz Memorial Pfizer Upjohn Research Professor in Translational Pharmacology. Dr. Levitt’s research interests are in understanding the mechanisms underlying opioid-induced respiratory depression. Her team uses a variety of cellular and systems neuroscience approaches in rodent models to understand how opioids alter the neurons in the brainstem that control breathing, including brain slice electrophysiology, circuit tracing, optogenetics, single unit and whole nerve recordings from a unique preparation with an intact respiratory network and in vivo-like respiratory cycle, and breathing measurements in awake animals.
Dr. Levitt also serves as the Institute’s Research and Data Domain associate director.
The Dr. Emily Jutkiewicz Memorial Pfizer Upjohn Research Professor in Translational Pharmacology honors Dr. Emily Jutkiewicz, an esteemed research investigator and a beloved colleague at the University of Michigan in the Department of Pharmacology. Learn more about the professorship and Dr. Jutkiewicz
