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Department of Pharmacology & Toxicology
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Faculty
Research
Teaching
Facilities
Contact Information
Pharmacology & Toxicology Dr. R. William Caldwell, Chair
1459 Laney Walker Blvd.
CB-3530
706-721-3384
wcaldwel@mail.mcg.edu
Core Faculty: Professional Biography
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Alvin V. Terry, Jr., Ph.D.,
Professor
Phone: (706) 721-9462
Fax: (706) 721-2347


Research Interests
Dr. Terry's research interests focus on the role of central acetylcholine (i.e., cholinergic) pathways in cognition; specifically how these neuronal pathways are involved in the memory dysfunction associated with specific neurologic and psychiatric illnesses. The actions of both pharmaceutical and toxicological agents on the cholinergic neuronal system, axonal transport, as well as the major growth factors (nerve growth factor, brain derived growth factor) that support the cholinergic system are of particular interest. The laboratory also focuses on drug discovery and development strategies for the treatment of illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease and schizophrenia. The laboratory employs a variety of methods to test hypotheses ranging from behavioral testing in animal models (rodents to non-human primate) to molecular, cellular and analytical techniques (e.g., immunoblotting methods, imunohistochemistry, receptor autoradiography, Mass Spectrometry, etc


Grant Suppport
1. Cholinesterase Inhibitors, Axonal Transport, and Memory (12/03-10/13)
PI: A. Terry (25% effort) Agency: NIH/NIEHS 2 R01 ES012241-06A1 The major goals of this project are to determine the effects of repeated, subthreshold exposures to the organophosphate cholinesterase inhibitors chlorpyrifos and diisopropylfluorophosphate on cognitive function, axonal transport, and cholinergic marker expression in the rat CNS.

2. Procognitive and Antipsychotic Actions of JWS-USC-75-IX (08/08-05/10)
PI: A. Terry (10% effort) Agency: NIH/NIA 1 R21 AG032140-01A1 The major goals of this project are to determine (in animal behavior models) the viability of JWS-USC-75-IX as a prototypical AD-therapeutic agent, and will provide a proof of concept for the usefulness of single molecular entities with multiple therapeutic targets.

3. New Drugs for Treating the Cognitive Deficits and Psychotic Symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease (04/01/08 - 03/31/09)
PI: A. Terry (10% effort) Agency: Institute for the Study of Aging (ISOA) Grant #271225 The goal of this one year project is to determine optimal dosing parameters for a prototypical ranidtidine analog in a working memory task in monkeys.

4. Cotinine for Cognitive Impairment in Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders (09/07-06/11)
PI: J. Buccafusco (10% effort) Agency: NIH/NIA 1 R01 AG029617-01A1 The major goals of this project are to determine the effects of the nicotine metabolite, cotinine on cognitive function in rodent and non-human primate models of neurological and psychiatric disorders.

Current Projects
  • Effects of Chronic (Low-Level) Organophosphate Exposure on Cognitive Function
  • Effects of Chronic Antipsychotic Treatment on Cognitive Function
  • Drug Discovery/Development for Disorders of Cognition
Dr. Terry

Lab
Principal Investigator
Alvin V. Terry, Jr., Ph.D.

Graduate Students
Mary-Louise Middlemore
Christina Wilson

Post Docs/Lab Managers
Elizabeth Herman, Ph.D.

Research Technicians
Dan Beck
Kristy Bouchard
Samantha Warner
Leah Vandenhuerk



Honors and Awards
  • The Rho Chi Society (Pharmacy Honor Society, Inducted, Nov. 1988)
  • Sigma Xi Scientific Research Award (First Place) April, 1991
  • Sigma Xi Scientific Society (Inducted as Full Member, 1995)
  • MCG Creativity Award, April 26, 2006.
  • Back to South Carolina Alumnus Award, South Carolina College of Pharmacy, August 26, 2008

Invited Speaker
"Synthesis, quantitation and pharmacological actions of selenonium choline analogs", Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, IL, 5/1991.

"Memory Disorders: Novel Pharmacologic Approaches to Therapy". Presented to the Department of Pharmacology, University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, Texas, April 3, 1998.

"Memory Disorder Investigation: Preclinical Pharmacologic and Therapeutic Approaches". Presented to the Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy, Columbia, South Carolina, 11/18/98

"Novel Drug Design: Cholinergic Compounds and Working Memory in Rodents and Young and Aged Non Human Primates". Presented at the eleventh annual meeting of the Winter Conference on Neural Plasticity in St. Lucia, West Indies, 2/22/99.

"Memory Disorders and Central Nicotinic-Acetylcholine Receptors: Preclinical Pharmacologic Investigations". Presented to the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the Mercer Southern School of Pharmacy, Atlanta, GA, 2/2/2000.

"Age-Related Memory Disorders and "The Cholinergic Hypothesis, Direct and Indirect Pharmacologic Approaches to Drug Development". Presented at the 12th annual American Psychological Society Convention at a symposium entitled: "Cholinergic Function in Dementia: Related or Not"? Miami Beach, Fla., 6/11/2000.

"Antipsychotic Drugs: Temporal Effects on Cholinergic Neurons and Cognitive Function". Presented to the Department of Psychology, University of Kentucky, Lexington KY, February 15, 2002.

"Antipsychotics: Differential Effects on Growth Factors, Cholinergic Markers, and Memory Function" Presented to the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Texas Tech Health Sciences Center School of Pharmacy, Amarillo, Texas. September 20, 2002.

"Comparison of Galantamine and Donepezil for Effects on Nerve Growth Factor, Cholinergic Markers, and Behavioral Performance in Aged Rats". Presentation made at the Janssen-Nicotinic Summit Investigator Meeting, Miami Florida, December 13, 2003.

"Antipsychotics: Differential Effects on Central Cholinergic Neurons, and Cognitive Function. Presented to the College of Pharmacy, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, June 11, 2004.

"Cognitive Dysfunction in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Cholinergic-Based Therapeutic Strategies" Presented to the Department of Basic Pharmaceutical Sciences at the South Carolina College of Pharmacy, Columbia, South Carolina, August 26, 2008

Selected Recent Publications (Beginning in 2007)
(Selected from 106 peer-reviewed research articles, 8 book chapters, and 1 US patent).
Hohnadel EJ, Bouchard K, and Terry, AV., Jr. Galantamine and Donepezil Attenuate Pharmacologically Induced Deficits in Prepulse Inhibition in Rats. Neuropharmacology 52: 542-551, 2007.

Pillai, A., Parikh V, Terry, AV., Jr., and Mahadik SP. Long-term Antipsychotic Treatments and Crossover Studies in Rats: Differential Effects of Typical and Atypical Agents on the Expression of Antioxidant Enzymes and Membrane Lipid Peroxidation in Rat Brain. Journal of Psychiatric Research 41: 372-386, 2007

Terry, AV., Jr., and Mahadik SP. Time Dependent Cognitive Deficits Associated with First and Second Generation Antipsychotics: Cholinergic Dysregulation as a Potential Mechanism. Invited Minireview Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 320:961-968, 2007

Gearhart DA, Sickles DW, Buccafusco JJ, Prendergast MA, Terry AV Jr. Chlorpyrifos, chlorpyrifos-oxon, and diisopropylfluorophosphate inhibit kinesin-dependent microtubule motility. Toxicology and Applied Pharmacology 218:20-29, 2007.

Williamson LN, Terry AV Jr., Bartlett MG. Determination of Chlorpyrifos and its Metabolites in Rat Blood Using Liquid Chromatography/ Electrospray Ionization Tandem Mass Spectrometry. Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies 30:273-285, 2007.

Buccafusco JJ, Shuster LC, Terry AV Jr. Disconnection between activation and desensitization of autonomic nicotinic receptors by nicotine and cotinine. Neuroscience Letters 413:68-71, 2007.

Zhang G, Terry AV Jr, Bartlett MG. Liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for the simultaneous determination of olanzapine, risperidone, 9-hydroxyrisperidone, clozapine, haloperidol and ziprasidone in rat plasma. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 21:920-928, 2007.

Prendergast MA, Self RL, Smith KJ, Ghayoumi L, Mullins MM, Buccafusco JJ, Gearhart DA, Terry AV Jr. Microtubule-Associated Targets in Chlorpyrifos Oxon Hippocampal Neurotoxicity. Neuroscience 146: 330-339, 2007.

Terry, AV., Jr., Gearhart DA, Warner SE, Zhang G, Bartlett MG, Middlemore, ML, Beck WD, Mahadik SP, and Waller JL. Oral haloperidol or risperidone treatment in rats: Temporal effects on nerve growth factor receptors, cholinergic neurons, and memory performance. Neuroscience 146:1316-1332, 2007.

Buccafusco JJ, Powers JC, Hernandez MA, Prendergast MA, Terry AV, Jonnala RR. MHP-133, a Drug with Multiple CNS Targets: Potential for Neuroprotection and Enhanced Cognition. Neurochemical Research 32:1224-1237, 2007

Zhang G, Terry AV Jr, Bartlett MG. Sensitive liquid chromatography/tandem mass spectrometry method for the determination of the lipophilic antipsychotic drug chlorpromazine in rat plasma and brain tissue. Journal of Chromatography B 854: 68-76, 2007.

Buckley PF, Mahadik SP, Pillai, A., and Terry AV Jr. Neurotrophins and Schizophrenia. Schizophrenia Research 94: 1-11, 2007.

Terry AV Jr., Gearhart DA, Beck WD, Truan JN, Middlemore, ML, Williamson LN, Bartlett MG, Prendergast MA, Sickles DW, and Buccafusco JJ. Chronic, Intermittent Exposure to Chlorpyrifos in Rats: Protracted Effects on Axonal Transport, Neurotrophin Receptors, Cholinergic Markers, and Information Processing. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 322: 1117-1128, 2007

Terry AV Jr., Gearhart DA. Time dependent decreases in central 7 nicotinic acetylcholine receptors associated with haloperidol and risperidone treatment in rats. European Journal of Pharmacology 571: 29-32, 2007.

Zhang G, Terry AV Jr, Bartlett MG. Simultaneous determination of five antipsychotic drugs in rat plasma by high performance liquid chromatography with ultraviolet detection. Journal of Chromatography B, 856:20-28, 2007.

Buccafusco, J.J., Terry AV Jr., Decker MW, Gopalakrishnan M. Profile of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor agonists ABT-594 and A-582941, with differential subtype selectivity, on delayed matching accuracy by young monkeys. Biochemical Pharmacology 74:1202-1211, 2007.

Sood A, Beach JW, Webster SJ, Terry AV Jr., and Buccafusco JJ. The Effects of JWB 1-84-1 on Memory-Related Task Performance by Amyloid A Transgenic Mice and Aged Rhesus Monkeys. Neuropharmacology 53: 588-600, 2007.

Zhang G, Terry AV Jr, Bartlett MG. Sensitive Liquid Chromatography / Tandem Mass Spectrometry Method for the Simultaneous Determination of Olanzapine, Risperidone, 9-Hydroxyrisperidone, Clozapine, Haloperidol and Ziprasidone in Rat Brain Tissue. Journal of Chromatography B 858:276-281, 2007.

Terry, AV., Jr., Gearhart DA, Warner SE, Hohnadel EJ, Middlemore ML, Zhang G, Bartlett MG, Mahadik SP. Protracted Effects of Chronic Oral Haloperidol and Risperidone on Nerve Growth Factor, Cholinergic Neurons, and Spatial Reference Learning in Rats. Neuroscience 150: 413-424, 2007.

Kuhn, D.E., Martin, M.M., Feldman, D.S., Terry, A.V. Jr., Nuovo, G.J. and T.S. Elton. Experimental validation of miRNA targets. Methods, 44:47-54, 2008.

Kuhn, D.E., Nuovo, G.J., Martin, M.M., Malana, G.E., Pleister, A.P., Jiang, J., Schmittgen, T.D., Terry, A.V., Jr. , Gardiner, K., Head, E., Feldman, D.S., and T.S. Elton. Human Chromosome 21-derived miRNAs are over-expressed in Down Syndrome brains and hearts. Biochemical and Biophysical Research Communications 370:473-477, 2008.

Trantham-Davidson H, Vazdarjanova A, Dai R, Terry A, Bergson C. Up-regulation of calcyon results in locomotor hyperactivity and reduced anxiety in mice. Behavioral Brain Research 189:244-249, 2008.

Pillai A, Dhandapani KM, Pillai BA, Terry AV Jr, Mahadik SP. Erythropoietin prevents haloperidol treatment-induced neuronal apoptosis through regulation of BDNF. Neuropsychopharmacology 33:1942-1951, 2008.

Buccafusco, J.J., Terry AV Jr.., Webster, S.J., Martin, D.M., Hohnadel, E.J., Bouchard, K.A., Warner, S.E.: The scopolamine-reversal paradigm in rats and monkeys: The importance of computer-assisted operant conditioning memory tasks for screening drug candidates. Psychopharmacology 199:481-494, 2008.

Zhang G, Terry AV Jr, Bartlett MG. Determination of the lipophilic antipsychotic drug ziprasidone in rat plasma and brain tissue using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry. Biomedical Chromatography 22:770-778, 2008.

Terry, AV, Jr. Role of the Central Cholinergic System in the Therapeutics of Schizophrenia. Current Neuropharmacology 6, 97-101, 2008.

Xu M, Terry AV Jr, Bartlett MG. Determination of diisopropylfluorophosphate in rat plasma and brain tissue by headspace solid-phase microextraction gas chromatography/mass spectrometry. Rapid Commun Mass Spectrom 22:3069-3075, 2008.

Grigoryan H, Schopfer LM, Thompson CM, Terry AV, Masson P, Lockridge O. Mass spectrometry identifies covalent binding of soman, sarin, chlorpyrifos oxon, diisopropyl fluorophosphate, and FP-biotin to tyrosines on tubulin: A potential mechanism of long term toxicity by organophosphorus agents. Chemico-Biological Interactions 175:180-186, 2008.

Terry, AV, Jr., Buccafusco, JJ, Wilson C. Cognitive Dysfunction in Neuropsychiatric Disorders: Selected Serotonin Receptor Subtypes as Therapeutic Targets. Behavioral Brain Research 195:30-38, 2008.

Zhang G, Terry AV Jr, Bartlett MG. "Bioanalytical Methods for the Determination of Antipsychotic Drugs. Biomedical Chromatography 22:671-687, 2008

Terry, AV, Jr., Warner SE, Vandenhuerk, L, Pillai, A, Mahadik SP, Zhang G, Bartlett MG. Negative Effects of Chronic Oral Chlorpromazine and Olanzapine Treatment on the Performance of Tasks Designed to Assess Spatial Learning and Working Memory in Rats. Neuroscience 156: 1005-1016, 2008.

Williamson LN, Zhang G, Terry AV Jr, , Bartlett MG. Comparison of time-of-flight mass spectrometry to triple quadrupole tandom mass spectrometry for quantitative bioanalysis: application to antipsychotics. Journal of Liquid Chromatography & Related Technologies 31: 2737-2751, 2008.

Buccafusco JJ, Beach JW, Terry AV. Desensitization of nicotinic acetylcholine receptors as a strategy for drug development. Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics 2008 (in press).

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Education and Training
Medical College of Georgia - Post-Doctoral Training, Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, 9/1991 - 8/1992.

University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy - Ph.D., Major: Pharmacology., Columbia, South Carolina, 1/1987-8/1991.

Medical University of South Carolina- B.S., Major: Pharmacy, Charleston, SC 9/1979-6/1982.

North Greenville College- A.S., Major: Science/Pre-Pharmacy, Tigerville, SC 9/1977-6/1979.

Professional Experience and Academic Appointments
December 2005 - Present: Professor (Tenured), Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology (primary) Department of Neurology (joint) School of Graduate Studies (joint) Medical College of Georgia

January 2003 - Present : Director, Small Animal Behavior Core, Medical College of Georgia

Teaching Experience
University of Georgia (Doctor of Pharmacy Program)
Undergraduate
January 1994 - Present Human Pathophysiology (PHM 3470) 8-1 hour lectures on Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases (Approx 100 students per year).

January 1994 -2002 Disease Management (PHM 4860) 4-1 hour lectures on the treatment/management of Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and other neurodegenerative diseases (Approx 100 students per year).

January 1994 - 1999 Pharmacokinetics (PHR 554B) 10-12, 1 hour lectures on saturable drug elimination and anticonvulsant pharmacokinetics (Approx 75-80 students per year). Clerkship

January 1994 - 1999 Neurology Clinical Clerkship (3 4-week rotations conducted per year, 6-8 students)
Graduate
August 2002-present PHRM 8710 Advanced Therapeutics II, 30-35 lecture hours per year (Generally 4-10 students) Laboratory

January 1994 - present Graduate Advisor:
Ms. Caterina Hernandez, Ph.D. received August 2003.
Ms. Elizabeth Hohnadel, Ph.D. Student
Supervise and train Summer Research Fellows, Graduate Students and Technicians in various laboratory techniques and procedures
Medical College of Georgia
Medical
January 1994 - present Phase II Medical Pharmacology-Lectures on the pharmacology of anticonvulsant drugs (180 students)

January 1991 - 1995 Phase II Medical Pharmacology Elective - Patient Oriented Problem Solving (POPS) 15-20 students per year.

January 1991 - 1995 Clinical Pharmacology Course - 1-2 two-hour lectures in clinical neuropharmacology per year (12-15 students)
Graduate
January 1994 - present PHM 8030 Neuropharmacology 10-12 lecture hours/ever other year (Generally 4-6 students)
Allied Health Programs
January 1991 - 1995 Pharmacology 301 (Physician Assistant Pharmacology Course) (Neuropharmacology Lectures, 1-2 hours per year-Approx 50 students)
Augusta State University
January 1992 - 1993 Biology 101-Introductory Biology Course 1/1/94 to 6/94 (Night Course - Five hours credit per quarter.)

Scientific and Professional Societies
  • Society for Neuroscience
  • American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
  • American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy
  • Kappa Psi Pharmaceutical Fraternity

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Medical College of Georgia
All rights reserved.
School of Medicine   |  School of Graduate Studies
Medical College of Georgia
Please email comments, suggestions or questions to:
Dora Walden, dwalden@mcg.edu.