Dr. Miller received her B.A. degree from the University of Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, in 1980 and her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas in 1987. She then spent five years doing post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. G. Larry Cottam at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas. The major focus of research in Dr. Miller's laboratory is investigation of the molecular mechanisms responsible for the immunomodulatory effects of opiates and of endogenous opioid peptides. Opioids have been implicated in immune dysfunctions associated with stress and drug abuse but also have been suggested to have therapeutic potential in enhancing immune function in conditions such as cancer and chronic viral infections. Current studies in the laboratory include identification of the opioid receptor types expressed in specific immune cell populations, elucidation of the receptor interactions and intracellular signaling mechanisms which result in induction of the delta type opioid receptor during T cell activation, and investigation of opioid effects on specific T cell functions such as cytokine secretion. Other studies examine the metabolism of opioid peptides in the immune system. These studies are currently focused on an enzyme implicated in the metabolism of the opioid peptide -endorphin to a series of bioactive opioid and non-opioid peptide metabolites.
