Sharon Walsh, Ph.D.

(Rutgers University, 1990)

Robert Straus Behavioral Sci B
Lexington Kentucky 40502
Phone: (859) 257-6485
e-mail: sharon.walsh@uky.edu

Research Description

Dr. Walsh is a Professor of Behavioral Science, Psychiatry, and Director of the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. Prior to coming to the University of Kentucky in 2005, Dr. Walsh earned her M.S. (1987) and Ph.D. (1990) from Rutgers University in Behavioral Neuroscience.   Dr. Walsh joined the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in 1990 as a postdoctoral fellow where she trained in human behavioral pharmacology. She joined the faculty in 1992 and in 2003 became Professor of Behavioral Science and Psychiatry. Dr. Walsh's clinical research has focused on pharmacological issues in opioid and cocaine dependence. She has conducted studies on pharmacodynamic and pharmacokinetic characteristics of opioid treatment agents, including buprenorphine, methadone and LAAM and has evaluated potential pharmacotherapies for efficacy and safety in the treatment of cocaine dependence. Dr. Walsh was the 1997 recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, has authored numerous papers, has served as a regular NIDA study section member and serves on the board of an array of professional associations in the field of substance abuse.

2008 Accomplishments

During 2008, Dr. Walsh continued to develop and implement both inpatient and outpatient studies in her growing laboratory at the Straus Building.  She currently has three R01 independent awards from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) focused on cocaine and opioid abuse, dependence and their treatment.   She received an additional private contract to participate in a multi-center, national clinical trial of a novel pharmacotherapy for methamphetamine dependence.  Dr. Walsh served as a co-Director for a renewal application for a T32 training grant with the Department of Biochemistry at the University of Kentucky with Dr. Lou Hersh and Dr. Linda Dwoskin and as a collaborator on a number of R01 applications from with University faculty.  Dr. Walsh published peer-reviewed manuscripts (including a lengthy review paper) and presented data at international, national and local meetings.  Dr. Walsh was elected as President of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD) and began serving her one-year term in June 2008.  Dr. Walsh was appointed as a Special Government Employee to serve on the Food and Drug Administration Advisory Board for Anesthetic Life Support Drugs and served at a public hearing advising on tamper-resistant opioid analgesic products.  During this past year, she provided expert services to American Society of Addiction Medicine, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, several other universities and is serving on the Editorial Board of two journals.  Dr. Walsh has provided physician training regarding the state-of-the-art treatment for opioid dependent individuals and was invited to speak before physician groups in London, England, Sofia, Bulgaria and Sydney, Australia.  Dr. Walsh was appointed as the Director of the Center on Drug and Alcohol Research. She was also appointed to University of Kentucky M.D/Ph.D Admissions Committee.

Current Research Funding

Evaluation of Novel Treatments for Stimulant Dependence (9/1/06 – 8/31/09) National Institute on Drug Abuse R01 DA019433-A1.  Total Direct Costs: $1,427,427; First Year Direct Costs:  $468,787.
The primary aim of this project is to evaluate the ability of aripiprazole to alter intravenous cocaine self-administration and to alter cigarette smoking in human volunteers with smoking and cocaine use histories.

Evaluation of Atomoxetine for Cocaine Dependence:  A Pilot Trial (9/30/2006-10/1/2009)
National Institute on Drug Abuse R01 DA 22191-01.  Total Direct Costs: $750,000; First Year Direct Costs: $250,000.
The major goal of this study is to determine whether there are adequate safety and efficacy data for atomoxetine as a treatment for cocaine dependence in a small, double-blind, randomized clinical trial to warrant a larger-scale evaluation.

CSP# 1024, A Phase III, Randomized, Multi-Center, Double Blind, Placebo-Controlled Study of Safety and Efficacy of Lofexidine for Relief of Symptoms in Subjects Undergoing Inpatient Opiate Detoxification (7/01/2006—12/31/2007) WorldMeds, LLC.
The primary goal of this Phase-III project is to evaluate the efficacy of an alpha-2 adrenergic receptor agonist for the treatment of opioid dependence in an inpatient setting.

Representative Publications:

Nann-Vernotica E., Donny E.C., Bigelow G.E. and Walsh S.L. (2001) The D1/5 antagonist, ecopipam, fails to attenuate the subjective and physiological effects of cocaine.  Psychopharmacology, 155: 338-347.

Walsh S.L., Strain E.C., Abreu M.E. and Bigelow G.E. (2001) Enadoline, a selective kappa opioid agonist:  Comparison with butorphanol and hydromorphone in humans. Psychopharmacology, 157: 151-162.

Walsh S.L., Geter-Douglas B., Strain E.C. and Bigelow G.E. (2001) Enadoline and butorphanol: Evaluation of k agonists on cocaine pharmacodynamics and cocaine self-administration in humans.  Journal of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, 299: 147-158.

Strain E.C., Walsh S.L. and Bigelow G.E. (2002) Blockade of hydromorphone effects by buprenorphine/naloxone and buprenorphine.  Psychopharmacology, 159:161-166.

Donny E.C., Walsh S.L., Bigelow G.E., Eisenberg T. and Stitzer M.L. (2002) High dose methadone produces superior opioid blockade and comparable withdrawal suppression to lower doses in opioid-dependent humans.  Psychopharmacology, 161: 202-212.

Lin, Shen-Nan, Walsh S.L., Moody D.E. and Foltz R.L. (2003) Detection and time course of cocaine N-oxide and other cocaine metabolites in human plasma by liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC/MS/MS).  Analytical Chemistry, 75:  4335-4340.

Walsh S.L., Strain E.C. and Bigelow G.E. (2003) Evaluation of the effects of lofexidine and clonidine on naloxone-precipitated withdrawal in opioid-dependent humans.  Addiction, 98: 427-439.

Walsh S.L. and Eissenberg T. (2003) Buprenorphine: Extrapolating from clinical pharmacology to clinical practice. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 70 (2 Suppl): S13-27.

Donny E.C., Brasser S.M., Bigelow, G.E. Stitzer M.L. and Walsh, S.L. (2005) Methadone doses of 100 mg or greater are more effective than lower doses at suppressing heroin self-administration in opioid-dependent volunteers.  Addiction, 100: 1496-1509.

Donny E.C., Bigelow G.E. and Walsh S.L. (2006) Comparing the physiological and subjective effects of self-administered versus yoked cocaine in humans, Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 186: 544-552.

Jufer R. Walsh, S.L., Cone E.J. and Sampson-Cone A. (2006) Effect of repeated cocaine administration on detection times in oral fluid and urine. Journal of Analytical Toxicology, 30(7):  458-462.

Walsh S.L. and Strain E.C. (2006) Pharmacology of methadone.  In:  Treatment of Opioid Dependence , The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore, Maryland, Strain E.C. and Stitzer M.L. (eds), pp. 59-76.

Preston K.L., Epstein, D.H., Schmitter J.P. and Walsh S.L. (2006) Abuse of Marketed Medications.  In: Drug Abuse Handbook 2nd Edition. CRC Press, Boca Raton, Florida, Karch S.B. (ed).