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William Christopher Wetsel

Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences
Box 103203 Med Ctr, Durham, NC 27710
354 Sands Bldg, Durham, NC 27710

Selected Grants


Duke-NCCU Interdisciplinary Postdoctoral Training Program in Child Psychiatric and Neurodevelopmental Conditions Program (DN-IPT)

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEPreceptor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

Duke University Psychiatry Physician-Scientist Residency Training Program

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2029

Regulation of notochord vacuole biogenesis: investigating its role in spine formation and IVD Biology

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2028

MECHANISTIC INSIGHTS INTO LSD ACTIONS AT 5-HT2A-SEROTONIN RECEPTORS

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2018 - 2028

Microglia-Amyloid interactions in delirium superimposed on dementia

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2017 - 2027

DART.3-Revolutionizing Neuropsychiatric Treatment through Noninvasive, Programmable Cell-Type-Specific Neuropharmacology

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2027

Exploring synthetic lethality with a novel very high energy electron FLASH radiation beam

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2026

Duke Testing Site for Stroke Preclinical Assessment Network

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke · 2023 - 2025

Development of Adrb3 Antagonists for the Treatment of Pain

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2023 - 2025

Immunovascular interactions in postoperative delirium superimposed on dementia (DSD).

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2025

Behavior and Physiology in Aging

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institute on Aging · 2015 - 2025

Interrogating the cholinergic basis of opioid reinforcement with subcellular precision

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2020 - 2025

Phase 2 - Biased Agonists as Rapidly Acting Neuropsychiatric Drugs

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2020 - 2025

Peripherally-targeted Adrb3 Antagonists for the Treatment of Pain

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2023 - 2025

The role of pericytes in delirium superimposed on dementia.

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2025

Development of arrestin-biased dopamine D1 receptor (D1R) ligand for the treatment of Parkinson's disease with minimal L-DOPA induced dyskinesia

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research · 2023 - 2024

Bacteriophage virus-like particle vaccines for fentanyl and heroin overdose

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by University of New Mexico · 2021 - 2024

Defining the role of peripheral Adrb3 in chronic pain and inflammation

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2024

Evaluating cell type-specific non-dopaminergics as a Parkinson's treatment paradigm

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2024

Molecular and circuitry mechanism underlying autism behaviors in Shank3 mouse models

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Yale University · 2019 - 2023

Exploiting Biased Agonism at the Ghrelin Receptor (GHSR 1a) for Opioid Addiction

FellowshipCo-Sponsor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2023

Heat Shock Factors and Protein Misfolding Disease

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2023

DART2.0: comprehensive cell type-specific behavioral neuropharmacology

ResearchCollaborating Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2022

Exploiting Dopamine Receptor Functional Selectivity as an Approach to Treat Parkinson's Symptoms

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2022

Phase 1 - Biased Agonists as Rapidly Acting Neuropsychiatric Drugs

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2020 - 2022

Targeting microbially-derived juvenile protective factors to resolve neuroinflammation and delirium

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2022

In Vivo Epigenome Editing with CRISPR-Based Histone Acetyltransferase Transgenic Mice

ResearchAssociate Research Professor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2022

Bioelectronic rescue of cognitive impairment after surgery

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2021

Molecular and cellular control of injury-induced astrogenesis

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2021

Novel Adjuvants and Carriers for Opiod Vaccines

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2020

Developing a New Therapeutic Agent for Kabuki Syndrome

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Rescindo Therapeutics Inc · 2019 - 2020

Akt/GSK-3 Signaling Cascade and the Actions of Dopamine

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2005 - 2020

Simultaneous and Bidirectional Chemogenetic Control of Mesolimbic and Nigrostriatal Circuits

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2020

Molecular, Synaptic, and Circuit Basis for Schizophrenia-related Phenotypes

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2020

Developing a new therapeutic agent for Kabuki syndrome

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Rescindo Therapeutics Inc · 2018 - 2019

Molecular and circuitry mechanism underlying autism behaviors in Shank3 mouse models

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2019

Cortico-striatal neurotransmission and compulsive motor behaviors

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2008 - 2019

Initial SHANK3 Study (Rugen E & F)

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Rugen Holdings (Cayman) · 2017 - 2019

Initial SHANK3 Study

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Rugen Holdings (Cayman) · 2016 - 2019

Linking Ciliary Biology to the Functional Annotation of Psychiatric Disorders

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Nevada - Las Vegas · 2018 - 2018

Quantitative MR Microscopy of Phenotypic Biomarkers in Alzheimer's Disease

ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2018

Analysis of Shank3 Complete and Temporal and Spatial Specific Knockout Mice

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2018

Receptor Regulation of CCK Cell Function

ResearchConsultant · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2018

IPA - Jiechun Zhou

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2018

IPA - William Wetsel

ResearchAssociate Research Professor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2018

Fragile X Phenotypes Modulated by Altered Signaling to the Synaptic Cytoskeleton

ResearchAssociate Research Professor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2018

Linking ciliary biology to the functional annotation of psychiatric disorders

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2017

Regulation of Cocaine Reward and Reinforcement by MeCP2

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2017

Functional Selectivity: A Novel Approach for CNS Drug Discovery

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill · 2012 - 2017

STIM1-dependent calcium signaling in neuronal responses to hypoxia and ischemia

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2015 - 2017

The 5-HT theory of depression tested in a naturalistic model of 5-HT deficiency

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2006 - 2017

Effect of two Rugen compounds on Novel Object Phobia in wild type (WT) and SAPAP3 KO mice

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Rugen Holdings (Cayman) · 2014 - 2017

Optimizing Lead 5-HT2C Ligands for Use in the Treatment of Schizoprenia

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Illinois at Chicago · 2013 - 2015

Novel high-throughput screening for modifiers of TorsinA pathology

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2015

Amphetamine-Induced Transcriptional Plasticity in Striatal GABAergic Interneurons

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2015

Prevention of Temporal Lobe Epilepsy

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2014

Regulation of response to chronic antidepressant treatment by MeCP2

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2014

Imaging NFkB Activity in Relation to Animal Behavior in Peripheral Neuropathy

FellowshipCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2014

Novel Genetic Mouse Model to Study the Consequences of TorsinA Dysfunction

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2011 - 2014

Non-invasive Chemical Genetic Control of Neuronal Activity

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2014

Agilent Direct Drive 9.4T MRS/MRI Console

EquipmentMajor User · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2013

PTSD-like phenotype of mice lacking GIT2

ResearchInvestigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2010 - 2012

Hormonal regulation of a Ca2+/AMPK signaling pathway

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1984 - 2011

Epigenetic regulation of transcriptional repression by drugs of abuse

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2006 - 2011

Stress and Behavior in Health and Disease

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1989 - 2011

Pharmacometabolomics Research Network

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2010 - 2011

Roles of SAPAP Proteins in Synaptic Function and Compulsive-like Behavior

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2007 - 2010

Cocaine Withdrawal: A Window of Treatment Opportunity

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1999 - 2010

Collaborative & Physiological Experiments to Breed CPE KO Mice

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2006 - 2007

The Pathophysiology of CMT2A in Cell and Animal Models

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2006 - 2007

Collaborative & Physiological Experiments to Breed CPE KO Mice

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2005 - 2005

Collaborative & Physiological Experiments

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2004 - 2005

Genetic Rescue Of Pro-Lhrh Processing In Cpefat Mice

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1998 - 2004

Collaborative & Physiological Experiments of CPE K/O Mice

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2002 - 2003

External Relationships


  • DARPA
  • National Institutes of Health
  • National Institutes of Health -- Study Section for Psychedelics
  • Onsero Therapeutics -- Company was bought, no longer associated with this company

This faculty member (or a member of their immediate family) has reported outside activities with the companies, institutions, or organizations listed above. This information is available to institutional leadership and, when appropriate, management plans are in place to address potential conflicts of interest.