John Talpos Ph.D.
Director, Division of Neurotoxicology
John Talpos, Ph.D.
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov
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About | Publications | Division Scientists
Background
Dr. John Talpos graduated from Kalamazoo College in Michigan, United States, with bachelor’s degrees in psychology and biology before attending the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom. He earned a Master of Philosophy degree while working with Dr. Trevor Robbins on the role of serotonin in impulsivity. Dr. Talpos then took a research position at Pfizer, Inc., in Kalamazoo, Michigan, where he performed various behavioral experiments in support of drug-development projects and was a visiting researcher at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden. He then returned to the University of Cambridge to work on a project developing novel, touchscreen-based, translational models of human cognition for the drug-discovery process. Upon earning a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Cambridge, he took a position as a post-doctoral fellow at Eli Lilly and Co. in the United Kingdom. While at Eli Lilly, Dr. Talpos established the first touchscreen-based operant system used in industry and contributed to multiple drug discovery programs. Dr. Talpos moved to Janssen Research and Development in Belgium where he established a translational cognition lab to evaluate novel treatments for schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s disease. While at Janssen, his primary responsibilities were to screen compounds for pro-cognitive effects and provide support and expertise for drug-hunting teams. He also managed several drug targets to the hit-to-lead stage. Externally, Dr. Talpos played an active role in the Cognitive Neuroscience Approaches to the Treatment of Impaired Cognition in Schizophrenia (CNTRICS) initiative, serving as co-leader for the working memory and perception sections. He has also been involved in several large, public-private consortiums (Innovative Medicines Initiative projects) sponsored by the European Union and designed to address bottle necks in the drug-discovery process for schizophrenia, autism, and Alzheimer’s disease. In 2016, Dr. Talpos joined FDA’s National Center for Toxicological Research (NCTR) and took over the multi-species Complex Brain Function lab. While at NCTR, Dr. Talpos’s research has primarily focused on studying the effects of early life exposure to anesthesia and analgesia. While Dr. Talpos is a behavioral pharmacologist by training, he collaborates with other division researchers to incorporate immunohistology and translational imaging into his research.
Since 2021 Dr. Talpos has served as the director of NCTR’s Division of Neurotoxicology. In this role he oversees a team of approximately 30 researchers using methods ranging from microphysiological models of the human brain to non-invasive large animal imaging.
Research Interests
Throughout Dr. Talpos’s career, his primary research interest has always been translational models of human cognition with a special interest in working memory, executive function, visual perception, and the hippocampus. The goal of his research is to discover the mechanisms of cognitive disruption to correct these impairments. Before joining NCTR, Dr. Talpos focused on cognitive disruption in central nervous system (CNS) disorders such as schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and autism. While he still retains a strong interest in CNS disorders, his research focus has switched to studying cognitive dysfunctions triggered by neurotoxic insults—including acute measures of neurotoxicity as well as life-long changes to cognitive function. Currently, his research focuses on the developmental toxicity associated with exposures to anesthesia or analgesia. Dr. Talpos uses a wide range of in vivo models for his research, including rats, guinea pigs, and minipigs. Areas of future research include N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor-mediated neurotoxicity as well as the development of a minipig model of neonatal anesthesia. Dr. Talpos collaborates with many members of the division to incorporate diverse methods into his research, including molecular imaging approaches and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). Dr. Talpos is also involved in several active collaborations with FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research designed to assess the potential neurotoxicity of anesthesia and analgesia.
While exclusively an in vivo researcher, Dr. Talpos has a keen interest in the development of new alternative models (NAMs) of the developing CNS, specifically in understanding their current limitations when compared to traditional rodent based models and in understanding how they may assist neurotoxicity evaluations in a regulatory and nonregulatory context.
Professional Societies/National and International Groups
Society for Neuroscience
Member
2015 – 2019
Selected Publications
Discontinuation of Methylphenidate after Long-Term Exposure in Nonhuman Primates.
Zhang X., Berridge M.S., Apana S.M., Slikker W. Jr., Paule M.G., and Talpos J.
Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2023, 97:107173. doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2023.107173. Epub 2023 Mar 8. PMID: 36893929.
The Effects of Long-Term Methylphenidate Administration and Withdrawal on Progressive Ratio Responding and T2 MRI in the Male Rhesus Monkey.
Liachenko S., Chelonis J., Paule M.G., Li M., Sadovova N., and Talpos J.C.
Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2022, 93:107119. doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2022.107119. Epub 2022 Aug 12. PMID: 35970252.
Can SARS-CoV-2 Infect the Central Nervous System Via the Olfactory Bulb or the Blood-Brain Barrier?
Burks S.M., Rosas-Hernandez H., Alejandro Ramirez-Lee M., Cuevas E., and Talpos J.C.
Brain Behav Immun. 2021, 95:7-14. doi: 10.1016/j.bbi.2020.12.031. Epub 2021 Jan 4. PMID: 33412255; PMCID: PMC7836942.
Regions of the Basal Ganglia and Primary Olfactory System are Most Sensitive to Neurodegeneration after Extended Sevoflurane Anesthesia in the Perinatal Rat.
Burks S.M., Bowyer J.F., Walters J.L., and Talpos J.C.
Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2020, 80:106890. doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2020.106890. Epub 2020 May 12. PMID: 32413489.
Acetyl-l-Carnitine Does Not Prevent Neurodegeneration in a Rodent Model of Prolonged Neonatal Anesthesia.
Walters J.L., Chelonis J.J., Fogle C.M., Ferguson S.A., Sarkar S., Paule M.G. (Retired), and Talpos J.C.
Neurotoxicol Teratol. 2020, 80:106891. doi: 10.1016/j.ntt.2020.106891. Epub 2020 May 3. PMID: 32376384.
Evaluating Aged Mice in Three Touchscreen Tests that Differ in Visual Demands: Impaired Cognitive Function and Impaired Visual Abilities.
Buscher N., van Dorsselaer P., Steckler T., and Talpos J.C.
Behav Brain Res. 2017, 333:142-149. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2017.06.053. Epub 2017 Jul 6. PMID: 28690184.
Symptomatic Thinking: The Current State of Phase III and IV Clinical Trials for Cognition in Schizophrenia.
Talpos J.C.
Drug Discov Today. 2017, 22(7):1017-1026. doi: 10.1016/j.drudis.2017.04.014. Epub 2017 Apr 29. PMID: 28461223.
Dissociable Effects of NR2A and NR2B NMDA Receptor Antagonism on Cognitive Flexibility but Not Pattern Separation.
Kumar G., Olley J., Steckler T., and Talpos J.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2015, 232(21-22):3991-4003. doi: 10.1007/s00213-015-4008-9. Epub 2015 Jul 18. PMID: 26184010.
Opposing Effects of Glutamatergic and GABAergic Pharmacological Manipulations on a Visual Perception Task with Relevance to Schizophrenia.
Talpos J.C., Riordan J., Olley J., Waddell J., and Steckler T.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2015, 232(21-22):3967-76. doi: 10.1007/s00213-015-3964-4. Epub 2015 May 28. PMID: 26014109.
Biased mGlu5-Positive Allosteric Modulators Provide In Vivo Efficacy without Potentiating mGlu5 Modulation of NMDAR Currents.
Rook J.M., Xiang Z., Lv X., Ghoshal A., Dickerson J.W., Bridges T.M., Johnson K.A., Foster D.J., Gregory K.J., Vinson P.N., Thompson A.D., Byun N., Collier R.L., Bubser M., Nedelcovych M.T., Gould R.W., Stauffer S.R., Daniels J.S., Niswender C.M., Lavreysen H., Mackie C., Conde-Ceide S., Alcazar J., Bartolomé-Nebreda J.M., Macdonald G.J., Talpos J.C., Steckler T., Jones C.K., Lindsley C.W., and Conn P.J.
Neuron. 2015, 86(4):1029-1040. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2015.03.063. Epub 2015 Apr 30. PMID: 25937172; PMCID: PMC4443790.
MK-801 and Amphetamine Result in Dissociable Profiles of Cognitive Impairment in a Rodent Paired Associates Learning Task with Relevance for Schizophrenia.
Talpos J., Aerts N., Waddell J., and Steckler T.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2015, 232(21-22):3911-20. doi: 10.1007/s00213-015-3934-x. Epub 2015 Apr 23. PMID: 25902874.
Strain-Dependent Effects on Acquisition and Reversal of Visual and Spatial Tasks in a Rat Touchscreen Battery of Cognition.
Kumar G., Talpos J., and Steckler T.
Physiol Behav. 2015, 144:26-36. doi: 10.1016/j.physbeh.2015.03.001. Epub 2015 Mar 3. PMID: 25744936.
Re-Evaluating the PCP Challenge as a Pre-Clinical Model of Impaired Cognitive Flexibility in Schizophrenia.
Fellini L., Kumar G., Gibbs S., Steckler T., and Talpos J.
Eur Neuropsychopharmacol. 2014, 24(11):1836-49. doi: 10.1016/j.euroneuro.2014.08.012. Epub 2014 Aug 27. PMID: 25300235.
Assessing Behavioural and Cognitive Domains of Autism Spectrum Disorders in Rodents: Current Status and Future Perspectives.
Kas M.J., Glennon J.C., Buitelaar J., Ey E., Biemans B., Crawley J., Ring R.H., Lajonchere C., Esclassan F., Talpos J., Noldus L.P., Burbach J.P., and Steckler T.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2014, 231(6):1125-46. doi: 10.1007/s00213-013-3268-5. Epub 2013 Sep 19. PMID: 24048469.
Touching on Translation.
Talpos J. and Steckler T.
Cell Tissue Res. 2013, 354(1):297-308. doi: 10.1007/s00441-013-1694-7. Epub 2013 Aug 16. PMID: 23949375.
Animal Models and Measures of Perceptual Processing in Schizophrenia.
Siegel S.J., Talpos J.C., and Geyer M.A.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013, 37(9 Pt B):2092-8. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2013.06.016. Epub 2013 Jul 15. PMID: 23867801; PMCID: PMC3849201.
Animal Models of Working Memory: A Review of Tasks that Might Be Used in Screening Drug Treatments for the Memory Impairments Found in Schizophrenia.
Dudchenko P.A., Talpos J., Young J., and Baxter M.G.
Neurosci Biobehav Rev. 2013, 37(9 Pt B):2111-24. doi: 10.1016/j.neubiorev.2012.03.003. Epub 2012 Mar 22. PMID: 22464948.
Trial-Unique, Delayed Nonmatching-to-Location (TUNL): A Novel, Highly Hippocampus-Dependent Automated Touchscreen Test of Location Memory and Pattern Separation.
Talpos J.C., McTighe S.M., Dias R., Saksida L.M., and Bussey T.J.
Neurobiol Learn Mem. 2010, 94(3):341-52. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2010.07.006. Epub 2010 Aug 6. PMID: 20692356; PMCID: PMC2989449.
A Novel Touchscreen-Automated Paired-Associate Learning (PAL) Task Sensitive to Pharmacological Manipulation of the Hippocampus: A Translational Rodent Model of Cognitive Impairments in Neurodegenerative Disease.
Talpos J.C., Winters B.D., Dias R., Saksida L.M., and Bussey T.J.
Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2009, 205(1):157-68. doi: 10.1007/s00213-009-1526-3. Epub 2009 Apr 9. PMID: 19357840.
A Comparison of Multiple 5-HT Receptors in Two Tasks Measuring Impulsivity.
Talpos J.C., Wilkinson L.S., and Robbins T.W.
J Psychopharmacol. 2006, 20(1):47-58. doi: 10.1177/0269881105056639. Epub 2005 Oct 4. PMID: 16204332.
Division Scientists
Contact information for all division scientists:
(870) 543-7121
NCTRResearch@fda.hhs.gov
John J. Chelonis, Ph.D.
Research Psychologist
Andrea Sutton, M.P.H, M.A.P.
Psychologist
Mi Li, Ph.D.
Staff Fellow
Alejandro (Alex) Manuel Ramirez Lee, Ph.D.
ORISE Fellow
- Contact Information
- John Talpos
- (870) 543-7121
- Expertise
-
ExpertiseApproachDomainTechnology & DisciplineToxicology