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Neuroscience Center plans excite McGinty by Chris West Public Relations Jacqueline McGinty, Ph.D., is very happy with her recent recruitment to the university and to the Physiology and Neuroscience Department. But what really makes her voice ring with excitement is the opportunity to talk about her department’s budding new neuroscience center on campus.   Dr. Jacqueline McGinty “The new neuroscience center will have basic research as well as clinical components, and it will focus on drug abuse and neuropsychiatry,” McGinty said. “The new center will also interact with CDAP, the Center for Drug and Alcohol Program, within the Department of Psychiatry.”   McGinty was recruited in July from the East Carolina University School of Medicine in Greenville, N.C., where she worked in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology for 16 years. She was brought to MUSC by friend and colleague, Peter Kalivas, Ph.D., chair of the Physiology and Neuroscience Department, to help create the new neuroscience center and  develop research programs in neuroscience.   “I am also here to continue research on the effects of cocaine and other amphetamines on neurotransmitter release and gene expression, which is my research focus,” McGinty said. “And the department is also making strides growing and recruiting more faculty to help develop the new center. This is good, because it shows a focus on neuroscience that wasn’t present before.”   McGinty received her bachelor of arts degree from Connecticut College in 1972 in the field of psychology. She earned her doctorate in neuroanatomy from Downstate Medical Center at the State University of New York. She has received many awards and honors and has been published frequently on topics and research within her field of study.    McGinty enjoys living in Charleston where she can be near the water and participate in some of her favorite pastimes—water-sports and boating. She is excited about “contributing to MUSC and the Charleston community.”