Beyond the Paper: A Conversation with Giordano de Guglielmo and Michelle Doyle
Interviewed by Dr. Paige N. McKeon, October 23, 2025
Giordano de Guglielmo and Michelle Doyle led a study to create an Alcohol Biobank with data from over 700 genetically diverse rats. To create this biobank, the researchers used a combined intermittent ethanol vapor exposure and ethanol self-administration approach. They characterized alcohol use disorder–related behaviors such as consumption, preference, motivation, and withdrawal symptoms. They collected blood, urine, and feces samples as well as different kinds of tissue samples at different stages of ethanol exposure and addiction. Non-profit organizations can access these samples online. Public repositories provide access to genetic and behavioral data from these rats.
The researchers hope this preclinical biobank will provide an opportunity for multidisciplinary researchers to collaborate, thus accelerating the development of treatments for alcohol use disorders.
“I envision the preclinical Alcohol Biobank evolving into a collaborative hub that promotes a network of multidisciplinary scientists, uniting experts in genomics, bioinformatics, and behavioral pharmacology to advance personalized medicine for addiction.” — Giordano de Guglielmo
Would you like to share your personal research journeys?
GdG: My passion for addiction neuroscience started during my PhD in Italy at the University of Camerino, where I explored psychostimulants and opioids’ effects on brain reward circuits. That curiosity followed me to a postdoc at The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, working with Dr. Olivier George on ethanol dependence models. Those years were a turning point. Using chronic intermittent ethanol (CIE) exposure, we uncovered how small subsets of neurons (neuronal ensembles) drive alcohol withdrawal. Upon joining the University of California San Diego (UCSD) in 2020, I directed my research toward elucidating individual differences in addiction-like behaviors, utilizing the genetic heterogeneity of heterogeneous stock (HS) rats to identify variants associated with alcohol use disorder (AUD)–related phenotypes through genome-wide association studies (GWAS), to inform personalized therapeutic strategies.
MD: I became really interested in substance use research as an undergraduate at Tufts University working in Dr. Klaus Miczek’s lab. To get more research experience before graduate school, I worked with Drs. Jack Bergman and Raj Desai at McLean Hospital/Harvard Medical School where I became passionate about behavioral pharmacology research. I continued in the field by getting my PhD at University of Texas Health San Antonio with Dr. Greg Collins where I studied individual differences in stimulant use. For my post doctorate, I wanted to continue to explore individual differences but to continue learning. I was really excited when I met with Dr. de Guglielmo and our close collaborator, Dr. Abraham Palmer, about a project using these HS rats to understand the role of genetics in individual differences in AUD-related behaviors. It seemed like a perfect position where I could apply my background in behavioral research to a new drug (alcohol) and learn about the ways we can use genetics to help with addiction treatment.
Dr. de Guglielmo, can you elaborate on your experiences starting up a lab?
I became a faculty member at UCSD just before the COVID-19 pandemic. Launching my lab amid the crisis presented formidable challenges. Funding was limited, and while an institution like UCSD offers distinct advantages, such as being surrounded by exceptional colleagues who are leaders in their respective fields and provide invaluable insights, it also poses certain drawbacks. One of these is the difficulty in recruiting graduate students and postdoctoral fellows as a young assistant professor, as trainees often gravitate toward more established laboratories. Nevertheless, I was fortunate to begin with a cohort of very talented undergraduate students whose dedication laid the foundation for our early progress. By establishing collaborations and participating in projects with established investigators in my department, I secured initial funding that enabled me to generate preliminary data for my first successful R01 application. Momentum built from there, and Dr. Doyle joined the lab, taking the lead on the project that ultimately resulted in the creation of the Alcohol Biobank.
“I recently moved to the biostorage field, and I've found it rewarding to contribute to science in a more operational capacity. It’s a different path, but one that I started on because of working on this biobank, and it still connects to my scientific training.” —Michelle Doyle
What are your long-term career and/or research goals?
GdG: In the long term, I hope the rich behavioral dataset we're building on alcohol addiction-like behaviors in HS rats, combined with the biobank samples, will help pinpoint new targets for treating alcohol use disorder. Looking ahead, we plan to expand this to opioids—we just got funding to make that happen. Ultimately, I'd love for the biobank to spark a network of scientists from different fields working together to chase personalized treatments for addiction.
MD: My long-term goals have evolved over time, and while I greatly value the intellectual rigor and discovery-driven environment of academic research, I have come to realize that I am increasingly drawn to the systems and infrastructure that support science. I recently moved to the biostorage field, and I've found it rewarding to contribute to science in a more operational capacity. It’s a different path, but one that I started on because of working on this biobank, and it still connects to my scientific training. I am still learning a lot, especially about regulatory requirements, and I get to support a wide variety of research labs.
“What keeps me motivated is training the next generation of scientists and seeing their excitement when they dive into data from a new experiment. It's that spark that reminds me why we do what we do.” — Giordano de Guglielmo
What keeps you motivated? Do you have advice for young researchers?
GdG: What keeps me motivated is training the next generation of scientists and seeing their excitement when they dive into data from a new experiment. It's that spark that reminds me why we do what we do. For young researchers eyeing a similar path, don't get discouraged: science is full of setbacks, such as experiments that fail or grants that are rejected. Just keep pushing forward. Persistence is key; those rare wins, when everything falls into place, make it all worthwhile. Build your network, stay balanced, and focus on the big questions that matter.
MD: Working with young researchers is really rewarding, and one of my favorite parts of research is when they are excited to run a new experiment and begin looking at and understanding the data. I enjoyed working with trainees because their excitement keeps things fresh and fun and was a great reminder of why I first became passionate about behavioral research. Grad school can be tough, and things rarely go as planned, but my advice is to try to have fun being curious about unexpected outcomes. Also, it’s important to remember that the academic path is great (especially addiction research!), but there are a wide range of careers available to you that keep you close to the science even if you are no longer at the bench. Things like data management, policy, science communication, regulatory affairs, and biostorage are critical, and they really benefit from people who understand the science.
“Grad school can be tough, and things rarely go as planned, but my advice is to try to have fun being curious about unexpected outcomes. Also, it’s important to remember that the academic path is great, but there are a wide range of careers available to you that keep you close to the science even if you are no longer at the bench.” —Michelle Doyle
Can you walk us through what making a biobank like the one in your paper entails?
GdG: Creating the Alcohol Biobank has been a multi-year effort to build a resource that's truly useful for the field: thousands of samples from over 700 genetically diverse HS rats, all thoroughly characterized for alcohol addiction-like behaviors. This initiative was made possible through funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), which supported the scale-up of our phenotyping and sample collection pipelines. At its core, making a biobank like this entails large-scale phenotyping of these rats using a standardized model of ethanol dependence, collecting biological samples at critical time points, preserving them for various analyses, and organizing everything so it's easy for other researchers to access and use.
Our approach in developing this tool was inspired by existing biobanks for other drugs, but tailored to AUD. We chose HS rats for their GWAS power, integrated the CIE model to align with DSM-5 criteria for addiction-like behaviors, and created an "addiction index" by z-scoring key metrics (intake escalation, progressive ratio breakpoints, quinine resistance, tolerance, and withdrawal signs) to stratify rats into low, mild, moderate, or severe phenotypes. This lets users request samples from specific severity groups. We made it free for nonprofits, FAIR-compliant, with metadata linked via RFID, and data deposited in public repositories. The goal is to democratize access so labs can dive into multi-omics without running the full behavioral pipeline themselves.
What were some challenges while creating the biobank and making it accessible?
MD: Creating the biobank demanded meticulous planning, mainly due to the logistical demands of phenotyping large cohorts of HS rats in the CIE model. We needed a highly motivated team (including multiple techs and undergrads) working in sync to manage 96 animals per cohort. The biggest hurdle was the tight scheduling: all behavioral tests, like anxiety assessments or allodynia checks, had to happen exactly during acute withdrawal windows to capture those transient states accurately. Any delay or equipment glitch could throw off the data, and with protracted abstinence groups, housing and maintenance costs added up quickly. Ensuring proper ethanol vapor exposure to hit the right blood ethanol levels without issues and providing quality control for all the data was often a challenge that required dynamic responses daily.
Before this project, I was used to working with cohorts of 12–16 rats at a time, so having a team I could trust was really important for collecting high quality data for such a large cohort of rats. For storing the tissue we collected, we also had to be very organized and have multiple checks to ensure the groups were balanced between our three endpoints and that the correct rat’s tissue was stored in the matching tubes. We incorporated tools such as RFID chips to identify each rat, using barcodes to label individual samples, and tracking everything in our freezer using a laboratory information management system.
Making everything free and widely accessible brought its own set of challenges. Funding from grants, such as the NIAAA R01, helped offset expenses, but balancing open access with sustainability required careful planning to ensure that smaller labs could benefit without us running dry. Careful set up and detailed record tracking upfront was very helpful.
What uses do you envision for the biobank?
GdG: I envision the Preclinical Alcohol Biobank evolving into a collaborative hub that promotes a network of multidisciplinary scientists, uniting experts in genomics, bioinformatics, and behavioral pharmacology to advance personalized medicine for addiction. By promoting open access resources and data-sharing, we can accelerate the translation of preclinical insights into clinical biomarkers and interventions, ultimately addressing the heterogeneity of substance use disorders in the human population.
“The review process with eNeuro was remarkably smooth and constructive from start to finish. As an open access journal under the Society for Neuroscience, it emphasized transparency and efficiency, with our manuscript moving through initial assessment and peer review in a timely manner.” — Giordano de Guglielmo
How was the review process with eNeuro?
GdG: The review process with eNeuro was remarkably smooth and constructive from start to finish. As an open access journal under the Society for Neuroscience, it emphasized transparency and efficiency, with our manuscript moving through initial assessment and peer review in a timely manner. The handling editor provided clear guidance, and the two reviewers offered insightful, targeted comments that genuinely strengthened the paper.
Connect with Giordano de Guglielmo on Twitter/X.
Keep up to date with the de Guglielmo lab and the Preclinical Alcohol Biobank they created.
Read the full article:
A Preclinical Alcohol Biobank: Samples from Behaviorally Characterized HS Rats for AUD Research
Michelle R. Doyle, Paola Campo, Selen Dirik, Maria G. Balaguer, Angelica R. Martinez, Marsida Kallupi, Abraham A. Palmer, and Giordano de Guglielmo
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