Meet Our Team

Principal Investigator

Joshua Gross is the principal investigator of the Nutritional Neuropharmacology Lab and professor of nutritional sciences and biobehavioral health. He is a neuropharmacologist with expertise in G protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling, neuroscience, endocrine/nutritional physiology, and preclinical drug discovery.

He obtained his Ph.D. from West Virginia University in cellular and integrative physiology under the mentorship of David Siderovski and Vincent Setola. His thesis work elucidated the role of Regulator of G Protein Signaling-12 (RGS12) in striatal dopamine homeostasis and opioid receptor function. Subsequently, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Marc Caron at Duke University, where he studied the molecular pharmacology and neuroendocrinology of GPCR 'biased signaling' (a.k.a. functional selectivity).

In August 2023, Gross started his own laboratory at Penn State University in the Departments of Nutritional Sciences, Biobehavioral Health, and Pharmacology.