Adjunct Professor
Biochemistry Department
SUNY Health Sciences Center
450 Clarkson Ave.
Brooklyn, NY 11203
Email: Richard_Kream@netmail.hscbklyn.edu

Research Interests:

For the last ten years, the major focus of Dr. Kream's laboratory has been the biochemical and anatomical characterization of the expression and turnover of neuropeptides in brain, spinal cord, and in sensory ganglia in culture, with special reference to neurobiological mechanisms of pain and analgesia. This work has recently been extended to include a neurobiological approach towards understanding visceral pain associated with interstitial cystitis. Additionally, he and his associates have undertaken a project dealing with the effects of centrally administered narcotic analgesics on peripheral mechanisms of oxidative stress. Finally, the group is involved in investigating the relationship between ischemic/hypoxic insults arising from cardiac surgical procedures, delayed neuronal degeneration, and therapeutic blockade of activated glutamate receptors. All of the above mentioned projects are heavily rooted in both classical and molecular pharmacology. Collaborations with other members of the training faculty over the years have been extensive. Drs. Kream, Shuster and Miczek have maintained a long-term interactive relationship to investigate stress-induced mechanisms of opioid analgesia. Dr. Kream is a co-investigator on studies carried out in the laboratories of Drs. Shader and Greenblatt. For the last several years, Drs. Kream and Theoharides have collaborated on a project to evaluate peptide-mast cell interactions in inflammatory bladder disease. Recently, Drs. Kream and Paulson have initiated interactive studies to determine opioid-induced mechanisms of oxidative damage in liver and kidney. Drs. Kream, Miczek, and Hammer are co-investigators on a project to determine the effects of stress on drug abuse. Finally, Drs. Kream and Beinfeld have been working on novel methods to detect very low levels of peptides from biological sources.

Recent Publications:

Marchand JE, Cepeda MS, Carr DB, Wurm WH, Kream RM. Alterations in neuropeptide Y, tyrosine hydroxylase, and Y-receptor subtype distribution following spinal nerve injury to rats. Pain 79(2-3):187-200, 1999.

Miczek KA, Nikulina E, Kream RM, Carter G, Espejo EF. Behavioral sensitization to cocaine after a brief social defeat stress: c-fos expression in the PAG. Psychopharmacology (Berl) 141(3):225-34, 1999.

Nikulina EM, Marchand JE, Kream RM, Miczek KA. Behavioral sensitization to cocaine after a brief social stress is accompanied by changes in fos expression in the murine brainstem. Brain Res810(1-2):200-10, 1998.

Bokesch PM, Seirafi PA, Warner KG, Marchand JE, Kream RM, Trapp B. Differential immediate-early gene expression in ovine brain after cardiopulmonary bypass and hypothermic circulatory arrest. Anesthesiology 89(4):961-8, 1998.