Education

Ph.D.  Neuroscience, University of Cagliari, 2015

Postdoctoral Fellowship, University of California, Irvine, 2016-2022
Visiting Ph.D. Neuroscience, University of California, Los Angeles, 2014

Background

Valeria Lallai, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences at the University of South Carolina College of Pharmacy. She received her undergraduate degree in Biology, a Master's in Neuropsychopharmacology, and her doctorate in Neuroscience from the Università degli Studi di Cagliari, Sardinia, Italy. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of California, Irvine, where she developed expertise in behavioral and molecular neuroscience, with a focus on extracellular vesicles as mediators of intercellular communication.

Dr. Lallai joined the USC College of Pharmacy in 2026, where she directs an independent research program at the interface of neuropharmacology and translational neuroscience. 

Research Interests

• Neuropharmacology
• Substance use disorders
• Polysubstance use and co-exposure
• Sex differences
• Neurodevelopment
• Extracellular vesicles 

Research Lab

Dr. Lallai's research examines the effects of drugs of abuse on the developing brain, from prenatal exposure through adolescence and into adulthood, with a particular emphasis on nicotine and THC, including their co-use during pregnancy. Her work highlights sex differences in addiction-related behaviors and polysubstance use, and investigates the role of extracellular vesicles as mediators of drug-induced signaling in the periphery and the brain. The long-term goal is to identify novel therapeutic strategies to reduce vulnerability to substance use disorders.

Undergraduate and graduate students interested in joining the lab are encouraged to email Dr. Lallai and/or visit www.lallailab.com for more information. 

Awards & Honors

• Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Travel Award, 2023
• Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco (SRNT) Travel Award, 2021
• BioLegend Junior Investigator Travel Award, 2019
• Dean's Early Career Research Excellence Award, UC Irvine, 2019
• Fellow, North American Cannabis Summit, Los Angeles, 2019
• Best Poster Award, 18th National Congress, Italian Neuropsychopharmacology Society, 2014
• Scholarship, Globus Doc, University of Cagliari, 2014
• Sardinian Fellowship for Master's Study, Region of Sardinia, 2008 

Selected Publications

Lallai V, Kho S, Martin AC, Fowler JP, Roach ML, Wang K, Laumann KN, Morrison TG, Palaniappan M, Bautista M, Mogul AS, Cheepluesak JE, Shrestha B, Lade DM, Lagomarsino JE, Narayan V, Uffens J, Lernhardt W, Mirzaei S, Jenkins I, Zavala AR, Lakey JRT, Tinder R, and Fowler CD. AI-derived therapeutic development of a serotonin receptor–targeting drug for the treatment of opioid use disorder. PNAS, April 6, 2026, 123 (15) e2516807123 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2516807123

Lewis R, Otsuka L, Punzo D, Sherafat Y, Florio E, Zhou M, Lallai V, Nha Pham TD, Seldin M, Fowler CD, Borrelli E (2025) Epigenetic regulation of cocaine intake through dopaminergic control of cholinergic interneurons. Nature Communications, 16(1): 10964. PMID: 41365875

Lallai V, Lam TT, Garcia-Milian R, Chen YC, Fowler JP, Manca L, Piomelli D, Williams KR, Nairn AC, Fowler CD. Proteomic Profile of Circulating Extracellular Vesicles in the Brain after Δ9-Tetrahydrocannabinol Inhalation. Biomolecules, 26 Jul 2024

Lallai V and McGrath KC. Editorial: The impact of nicotine and e-cigarettes on mental health. Front. Psychiatry, 2024 June 15:1446934

Lallai V, Congiu C, Craig G, Manca L, C, Dukes AJ, Fowler CD, Dazzi L. Social isolation postweaning alters reward-related dopamine dynamics in a region-specific manner in adolescent male rats. Neurobiology of Stress, 2024 Mar 2;30:100620. PMID: 38486879

Chen YC, Rindner D, Fowler JP, Lallai V, Mogul A, Demuro A, Lur G and Fowler CD. Extracellular ATP neurotransmission and nicotine sex-specifically modulate habenular neuronal activity in adolescence. J Neurosci. 2023 Nov 29;43(48):8259-8270. PMID: 37821229

Fordjour FK, Abuelreich S, Hong X, Chatterjee E, Lallai V, Ng M, Saftics A, Deng F, Carnel- Amar N, Wakimoto H, Shimizu K, Bautista M, Phu TA, Vu NK, Geiger PC, Raffai RL, Fowler CD, Das S, Christenson LK, Jovanovic-Talisman T, Gould SJ. (2023) Exomap1 mouse: a transgenic model for in vivo studies of exosome biology. Extracellular Vesicle, 2: 100030.

Torrens A, Ruiz CM, Martinez MX, Tagne AM, Roy P, Grimes D, Ahmed F, Lallai V, Inshishian V, Bautista M, Chen YC, Huestis MA, Das A, Fowler CD, Mahler SV, Piomelli D. Nasal accumulation and metabolism of δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol following aerosol ('vaping') administration in an adolescent rat model. Pharmacol Res. 2023 Jan; 187:106600. PMID: 36481259 

Lallai V, Manca L, Sherafat Y, Fowler CD. Effects of prenatal Nicotine, THC or co-exposure on cognitive behaviors in Adolescent Male and Female Rats. Nicotine Tob Res. 2022 Jan 28: ntac018. PMID: 35090174.

Souter E, Chen YC, Zell V, Lallai V, Steinkellner T, Conrad W, Wisden W, Harris K, Fowler CD, and Hnasko T. Disruption of VGLUT1 in cholinergic medial habenula projections increases nicotine self-administration. Eneuro. 2022 Jan 10;9(1): ENEURO.0481-21.2021. Print 2022 Jan-Feb. PMID: 34876472 

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