Rate My Professor Robert Messing

In 2013, Messing was recruited to The University of Texas at Austin as Vice Provost for Biomedical Sciences from 2013 to 2015 to support the launch of Dell Medical School, followed by Associate Dean for Research Development from 2015 to 2017. His research in the Messing Lab examines molecular and circuit neuroadaptations to drugs of abuse that drive addiction and comorbid conditions such as anxiety and pain, employing genetic approaches, behavioral pharmacology, and electrophysiology to identify therapeutic targets including protein kinase C epsilon, protein kinase C delta, protein kinase M zeta, N-type calcium channels, and the type 1 equilibrative nucleoside transporter. Major contributions include demonstrating their roles in ethanol intoxication and self-administration in mice, spurring development of inhibitors for pain, anxiety, and alcohol addiction. He has coauthored over 150 articles, book chapters, and reviews. Messing has received the NIAAA Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) Award (2002-2012), Endowed Chair in Neurology in Honor of the Gallo Family at UCSF (2004-2013), Harrington Innovator-Scholar Award (2018-2019), Research Society on Alcoholism Distinguished Investigator Award and James H. Tharp Award (2021), Civitatis Award (2024), and election as Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. He served as President of the Research Society on Alcoholism (2010-2011), Associate Editor of Annals of Neurology (2005-2013), and Senior Editor for North America (Basic and Preclinical Studies) of Addiction Biology (2015-2021).