Research Team
Laurie S. Lester, PhD
Laurie S. Lester, PhD
Senior Research Scientist, Center for Technology and Behavioral Health, Northeast Node of the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth College
Laurie S. Lester, Ph.D. is a Senior Research Scientist at the Center for Technology and Behavioral Health (CTBH) at Dartmouth College. An Experimental Psychologist and Senior Research Administrator, Dr. Lester received her Ph.D. from Dartmouth College.
Dr. Lester has conducted animal and human studies in the areas of learning and motivation, food/alcohol consumption and food/alcohol effects on cognitive and psychomotor performance. Her work in animals was particularly novel in examining opioid analgesia and changes in foraging strategies in response to naturalistic fear stimuli. Her work in large-scale, federally funded field studies of food/alcohol effects on human behavior included early use and continued development of interactive technologies to collect cognitive performance and alcohol consumption data in real-time.
Dr. Lester has extensive research administration experience having served for many years as the Administrative Director of the University of Vermont’s NIH-funded General Clinical Research Center where she was also a member of the Institutional Review Board. Following NIH’s launch of the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences, Dr. Lester returned to Dartmouth as the Director of Research Operations for the Clinical Translational Science Institute, SYNERGY, prior to joining the CTBH. In her roles at the University of Vermont and Dartmouth, she has contributed to the expansion of high-quality clinical research programs and served as an experienced liaison connecting local scientists/clinicians with research and training opportunities available through NIH national networks.
Dr. Lester loves exploring the outdoors with family and friends, walking, bird watching, kayaking and cross-country skiing. She also enjoys farmers’ markets, cooking and especially sampling all of our wonderful local foods.
Selected Publications
- Perrine MW, Mundt JC, Searles JS, Lester LS. Validation of daily self-reported alcohol consumption using interactive voice response (IVR) technology. J Stud Alcohol. 1995 Sep;56(5):487-90. doi: 10.15288/jsa.1995.56.487. PMID: 7475027. View Source
- Moline ML, Pollak CP, Monk TH, Lester LS, Wagner DR, Zendell SM, Graeber RC, Salter CA, Hirsch E. Age-related differences in recovery from simulated jet lag. Sleep. 1992 Feb;15(1):28-40. doi: 10.1093/sleep/15.1.28. PMID: 1557592. View Source
- Lester LS, Fanselow MS. Nocturnality as a defensive behavior in the rat: An analysis in terms of selective association between light and aversive stimulation. The Psychological Record, 42, 221-253. View Source
- Rose MS, Szlyk PC, Francesconi RP, Lester LS, Whang R. Acceptability and effect of carbohydrate-electrolyte solutions on electrolyte homeostasis during field training. Mil Med. 1991 Sep;156(9):494-6. PMID: 1961434. View Source
- Lester LS, Kramer FM. The effects of heating on food acceptability and consumption. Foodservice Research International, 6: 69-87. doi:10.1111/j.1745-4506.1991.tb00286.x. View Source
- Fanselow MS, Lester LS, Helmstetter FJ. Changes in feeding and foraging patterns as an antipredator defensive strategy: a laboratory simulation using aversive stimulation in a closed economy. J Exp Anal Behav. 1988 Nov;50(3):361-74. doi: 10.1901/jeab.1988.50-361. PMID: 3209954; PMCID: PMC1338904. View Source
- Fanselow MS, Lester LS. A functional behavioristic approach to aversively motivated behavior: Predatory imminence as a determinant of the topography of defensive behavior. In R. C. Bolles & M. D. Beecher (Eds.), Evolution and learning (p. 185–212). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. View Source
- Lester LS, Fanselow MS. Naloxone's enhancement of freezing: Modulation of perceived intensity or memory processes? Physiological Psychology, 14(1-2), 5–10. View Source
- Lester LS, Fanselow MS. Exposure to a cat produces opioid analgesia in rats. Behav Neurosci. 1985 Aug;99(4):756-9. doi: 10.1037//0735-7044.99.4.756. PMID: 3843739. View Source