Benjamin C. Reiner
Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry
Department: Psychiatry
Contact information
TRL Building, 125 S. 31st St.
Department of Psychiatry
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Department of Psychiatry
Perelman School of Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
Philadelphia, PA 19104
Office: 2155730278
Publications
Education:
BS (Biology, minor Chemistry)
University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2007.
PhD (Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience)
University of Nebraska Medical Center, 2015.
BS (Biology, minor Chemistry)
University of Nebraska at Omaha, 2007.
PhD (Pharmacology and Experimental Neuroscience)
University of Nebraska Medical Center, 2015.
Post-Graduate Training
Postdoctoral Fellowship, Neurogenetics, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2016-2020.
Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2020-2022.
Permanent linkPostdoctoral Fellowship, Neurogenetics, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2016-2020.
Research Associate, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA, 2020-2022.
Description of Research Expertise
My lab focuses on using behavioral, pharmacological, and intersectional genetic approaches with neural multiomics and downstream bioinformatics in preclinical animal models and postmortem human tissue in psychiatric disease, substance use disorders, and diseases of feeding and energy balance.Selected Publications
Chehimi SN, Crist RC, Merkel R, Schmidt HD, Reiner BC.: Beyond Euphoria: Transcriptomic Investigation in the rat Brain Under the Administration of Fentanyl Combined With Xylazine. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 267: 112213, February 2025.Merkel R, Hernandez NS, Weir V, Zhang Y, Caffrey A, Rich MT, Crist RC, Reiner BC, Schmidt HD: An endogenous GLP-1 circuit engages VTA GABA neurons to regulate mesolimbic dopamine neurons and attenuate cocaine seeking. Science Advances 11(9): eadr5051, February 2025.
Appleby SV, Xiao AG, Harris EP, Levine C, Belser DL, Geisler CE, Parent MB, Bangasser DA, Crist RC, Reiner BC, Hayes MR.: Characterizing brainstem glucagon-like peptide-1 control of sensory-specific-satiety in male and female rats across the estrous cycle. Biological Psychiatry January 2025.
Crist RC, Chehimi SN***, Montague MJ, Snyder-Mackler N, Bohlen MO, Chiou KL, Zintel TM, Platt ML, Silvestri G, Hayes MR, Kolson DL, Reiner BC: SIV infection induces alterations in gene expression and loss of interneurons in Rhesus Macaque frontal cortex during early systemic infection. Translational Psychiatry 15(1): 38, January 2025.
Aspesi D, Harris EP, Ku SA, Mahrous MY, Chehimi SN, Crist RC, Krishnan K, Reiner BC, Bangasser DA: Effects of resource scarcity on maternal care and the maternal brain in rats. Neuropsychopharmacology 49: 372-373, December 2024.
Chehimi SN, Crist RC, Batterman AI, Nguyen DP, Williams A, Keck TM, Berrettini WB, Buono RJ, Ferraro T, Reiner BC. : Ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy depression treatments alter isoform- and cell type-specific transcriptomes in the mouse prefrontal cortex. European Neuropsychopharmacology 87: 117, October 2024.
Crist RC, Chehimi SN, Merkel R, Donze-Reiner T, Schmidt H, Reiner BC. : Single nucleus ATAC-seq of the central amygdala reveals patterns of chromatin accessibility associated with cocaine self-administration. European Neuropsychopharmacology 87: 152, October 2024.
Chehimi SN, Crist RC, Merkel R, Ferraro T, Schmidt H, Reiner BC. : Fentanyl and xylazine polysubstance exposure induces shared and divergent isoform- and sex-specific alterations in the nucleus accumbens transcriptome. European Neuropsychopharmacology 87: 255, October 2024.
Weller AE, Ferraro TN, Doyle GA, Reiner BC, Berrettini WH, Crist RC: Analysis of single-cell transcriptome data from a mouse model implicates protein synthesis dysfunction in schizophrenia. Genes & Genomics 46(9): 1071-1084, Sept 2024.
Reiner BC, Chehimi SN, Merkel R, Toikumo S, Berrettini WH, Kranzler HR, Sanchez-Roige S, Kember RL, Schmidt HD, Crist RC: A single-nucleus transcriptomic atlas of medium spiny neurons in the rat nucleus accumbens. Scientific Reports 14(1): 18258, August 2024.