Leslie Devaud is a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy at Idaho State University. She received her Ph.D. in neuropharmacology from Oregon State University, Oregon in 1988. After spending ten years in North Carolina at Burroughs Wellcome and the University of North Carolina, Dr. Devaud joined the College of Pharmacy at ISU in 1998. She has maintained an active research program and is currently in her twelfth consecutive year of NIH funding from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. The Devaud lab group's research interests focus on understanding how the brain adapts to persistent alcohol exposure, specifically the neuronal mechanisms conferring tolerance and dependence. In particular, the group studies how these changes lead to symptoms of alcohol withdrawal when alcohol consumption is stopped. Her model system compares responses between male and female lab animals to determine how one's sex impacts the effects of alcohol. Her group also studies the effects of repeated stress on brain excitability.
Dr. Devaud currently has more than forty peer-reviewed publications and regularly gives presentations on her research findings. She is an active participant in the Research Society on Alcoholism, the International Behavioral and Neural Genetics Society and the Society for Neuroscience. Recently, Dr. Devaud was involved in establishment of the Snake River Association for Neuroscience and has served as President of this group during its first two years.
Dr. Devaud enjoys mentoring her graduate and undergraduate students. She participates in teaching of several elective courses and graduate courses, as well as pharmacology and pathophysiology in the professional Pharm.D. program.
