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Thomas H Kelly
THKELLY's picture
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  • thkelly@uky.edu
  • (859) 323-5206
  • 134 Medical Behavioral Science Building
Position(s): 
Regular Faculty
Affiliation(s): 
Behavioral Science
Bio / Education: 

University of Minnesota, 1983 

2018 Accomplishments

Thomas H. Kelly, PhD, is the Robert Straus Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine; Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology and Nursing, and a faculty affiliate of the Center for Drug Abuse Research. He serves as Associate Dean for Research in the College of Nursing and Director of Research Education, Training and Career Development for the Center for Clinical and Translational Science.  During the previous year, he served in multiple educational roles, including mentoring and teaching in medical and graduate courses and supporting the certificate, MS and PhD programs in Clinical and Translational Science.  His service activities at the Department level include vice-chair and participation on the admissions and curriculum committees.  Local service includes participation on the College of Medicine Regional Campus Expansion Joint Implementation Committee, and the College of Medicine LCME Self-Study Committee.  Nationally, his service activities include peer review for NIH and multiple journals. Mentoring activities include support of the PSMRF, TL1 and KL2 scholars in the CCTS.  Dr. Kelly is a clinical behavioral pharmacologist examining drug-behavior interactions and assessing bio-behavioral factors associated with individual differences in drug abuse vulnerability. His current research combines clinical pharmacological and neuroimaging methodologies to examine neurobiologically-based personality dimensions on vulnerability to drug abuse.  He is currently the PI of one project and serves as the Scientific Director of the NIDA-funded Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation (CDART), is multi-PI of the KL2 Career Development Program for the NCATS-funded CCTS, is co-I on UL1 CCTS and R01 NIDA grants and is a faculty mentor on three institutional training grants. During the past year he contributed to 3 published peer-reviewed manuscripts, 1 book chapter, and multiple presentations and grant applications.

Research Description: 

Thomas H. Kelly, Ph.D., is the Robert Straus Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Behavioral Science in the College of Medicine; Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology, Director of Research Education, Training and Career Development for the Center for Clinical and Translational Science; and a member of the Center for Drug Abuse Research. Dr. Kelly is a clinical behavioral pharmacologist with over 20 years of research and training experience in the experimental analysis of drug-behavior interactions with an emphasis on individual differences in drug abuse vulnerability.  He is the Scientific Director for the NIDA-supported Center for Drug Abuse Research Translation and PI of Center Project 2, entitled ‘Drug Abuse Liability and Sensation-Seeking Status,’ which examines individual differences drug abuse vulnerability.  In the University of Kentucky Center for Biomedical Excellence in Women’s Health (funded by the National Institute on Research Resources), Dr. Kelly is PI of Project 5, entitled ‘Actions of Estradiol and Progesterone on Behavior,’ which examines the neuropharmacological effects of HPG hormones.  He also serves as co-I on multiple drug abuse research and training grants and has served on numerous extramural study sections. He has served on over 25 graduate dissertation committees and has supervised 2 PhD postdoctoral scholars, and 2 MD and 2 PhD junior faculty members supported by NIH career development awards.  He is also a member of the University of Kentucky Institutional Review Board.

Grants: 

National Institute on Drug Abuse, Drug Abuse Liability and Sensation-Seeking Status, 1998 – 2012

National Institute of Research Resources, Actions of Estradiol and Progesterone on Behavior, 2000 – 2010

National Institute on Drug Abuse, Separate and Combined Effects of Progesterone and Triazolam in Healthy Women, 2007 – 2009

Selected Publications: 

Babalonis, S., Emurian, C., Martin, C.A., Lile, J.A. and Kelly. T.H. Modulation of the discriminative stimulus effects of triazolam across the menstrual cycle phase in healthy pre-menopausal women.  Drug and Alcohol Dependence, in press.

Kelly, T.H., Robbins, G., Martin, C.A., Fillmore, M.T., Lane, S.D., Harrington, N.G. and Rush, C.R.  Individual Differences in Drug Abuse Vulnerability: d-Amphetamine and Sensation-Seeking Status.  Psychopharmacology, 189: 17-25, 2006.

Kelly, T.H., Taylor, R.C., Heishman, S.J. and Howland, J.  Performance-based assessment of behavioral impairment in occupational settings.  In: Karch, S.B., Peat, M. and Forrest, R. (eds.) Handbook on Drug Abuse, Volume II, CRC Press, Boca Raton, pp. 238-266, 2007. 

Lile, J.A., Kendall, S.L., Babalonis, S., Martin, C.A., and Kelly. T.H. Evaluation of estradiol administration on the discriminative-stimulus and subject-rated effects of d-amphetamine in healthy pre-menopausal women. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 87: 258-266, 2007.

Makris, A.P., Rush, C.R., Frederich, R.C., Taylor, A.C., and Kelly, T.H. Behavioral and subjective effects of d-amphetamine and modafinil in healthy adults. Experimental and Clinical Psychopharmacology, 15: 123-133, 2007.

Martin, C.A., Guenthner, G., Bingcang, C., Rayens  M.K. and Kelly, T.H. A Pilot Study: Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder, Measurement of the subjective effects of methylphenidate in ADHD 11-15 year olds. Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, 17: 63-73, 2007.

Okoli, C.T.C., Kelly, T.H. & Hahn, E.L. Secondhand Smoke and Nicotine Exposure: A Brief Review. Addictive Behaviors, 32: 1977-1988, 2007.

Martin, S.; Covell, J.; Joseph, J.; Chebrolu, H.; Smith, C.; Kelly, T.; Jiang; Y. & Gold, B.T. Human experience seeking correlates with hippocampus volume: Convergent evidence from manual tracing and Voxel-Based Morphometry. Neuropsychologia, 45: 2874-2881, 2007.

Stoops, W.W., Lile, J.A., Robbins, G., Martin, C.A., Rush, C.R. and Kelly, T.H. The Reinforcing, Subject-Rated, Performance, and Cardiovascular Effects of d-Amphetamine: Influence of Sensation-Seeking Status.  Addictive Behaviors, 32: 1177-1188, 2007.

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