Dr. Sandra J. Kelly
Professor
Barnwell, Room 461
(803) 777-7610
sandra-kelly@sc.edu
Dr. Sandra Kelly received her Ph.D. from McGill University in behavioral neuroscience in 1985.
She spent three years as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Anatomy at the University of Iowa and the Center for
Behavioral Teratology at the State University of New York at Albany. During these three postdoctoral
years, Kelly's research focused on the effect of alcohol exposure during development on the central
nervous system. Kelly's research utilizes an animal model of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome, which involves
exposure of rats to alcohol during a period equivalent to all three trimesters in humans.
Recent findings from her laboratory suggest that alcohol exposure during development causes severe
deficits in social behavior. For example, rats exposed to alcohol during development show alterations
in the frequency of active social interactions, maternal behavior, social communication of food preference,
social recognition and responses to olfactory and somatosensory cues. Current research in the laboratory
is focused on alcohol-induced deficits in the ability to respond appropriately to social cues as the
explanation for alterations in social behavior. In addition, the neural and neurochemical bases of
the alcohol-induced alterations in social behavior are also being investigated. Another research
focus in the laboratory is how cortical organization changes when animals acquire skills that they
did not evolve to do. Techniques used in this research include automatic tracking of group behavior,
various behavioral tests, HPLC with electrochemical detection, stereological anatomical techniques,
stereotaxic surgery, and neurochemical assays. Dr. Kelly also collaborates with a number of different
laboratories both in Columbia and outside the area.
Dr. Kelly's currently has two graduate students and three undergraduate students working with her.
Graduate students can either be part of the Experimental Psychology Graduate Ph.D. Program or the
Biomedical Science Ph.D. Program. Dr. Kelly is currently an active member of the International
Behavioral Neuroscience Society, Research Society on Alcoholism and Society for Neuroscience. She
is funded to conduct research by the National Institute of Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.
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Recent Publications
Lugo, J. N., Jr., Wilson, M. A. and Kelly S. J. (2006) Perinatal ethanol exposure alters met-enkephalin
levels of male and female rats. Neuroteratology and Toxicology 28: 238 - 244.
Lugo, J. N., Jr., Marino, M. D., Gass, J. T., Wilson, M. A. and Kelly, S. J. (2006) Alcohol
exposure during development reduces resident aggression and testosterone in rats. Physiology and
Behavior 87: 330-337.
Marino, M., Askenov, M. and Kelly, S. J. (2004) Vitamin E protects against alcohol-induced cell
loss and oxidative stress in the neonatal rat hippocampus. International Journal of Developmental
Neuroscience 22: 363-377
Lugo, Jr., J. N., Marino, M. D., Cronise, K., and Kelly, S. J. (2003) Effects of alcohol exposure
during development on social behavior in rats. Physiology and Behavior, 78: 185-194.
Tran, T. D. and Kelly, S. J. (2003) Critical Periods for Ethanol-Induced Cell Loss in the Hippocampal
Formation. Neurotoxicology and Teratology 25: 519-528.
Marino, M. D., Cronise, K., Lugo, J. N. and Kelly S. J. (2002) Ultrasonic vocalizations and
maternal-infant interactions in a rat model of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. Developmental Psychobiology,
41: 341-351.
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