Erin Siciliano Calipari

Erin S. Calipari (born February 18, 1987) is an associate professor of pharmacology at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine Basic Sciences. Calipari's research focuses on understanding the brain circuitry that is used for adaptive and maladaptive processes in reward, associative learning and motivation.

Early life and education Calipari was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, the oldest daughter of basketball coach John Calipari and Ellen Calipari. Calipari took part in athletics while attending White Station High School. She played softball, basketball and hockey. She was part of the first generation in her family to intend to become an academic. Calipari attended University of Massachusetts Amherst, where she studied biology and played basketball for the UMass Minutewomen. Calipari was a graduate student at Wake Forest University, where she earned a doctorate in neuropharmacology under the supervision of Sara Jones. She used analytical chemistry and operant behavior studies to understand how dopamine kinetics are impacted by drug self-administration. She focused on how to understand neural circuit activity and transcriptional programs. In Tennessee, where Calipari grew up, there are more prescriptions for opioids than there are people living in the state. They also employ other neurophotometric and neurochemical methods such as optogenetics, and fast-scan cyclic voltammetry. She believes that through the platform of sport it is possible to communicate the dangers of drug addiction.

While women are more susceptible to drug addiction, the majority of addiction studies are focused on men. This means that medication development has focused on correcting addiction in men, and may explain why women do not respond to treatment in the same way as men. Her research can be used by treatment centers to educate women about their decision-making mechanisms.