Kevin T. Beier
Biography
Kevin T. Beier, Ph.D., is Associate Professor in the Departments of Physiology & Biophysics, Neurobiology & Behavior, Biomedical Engineering, and Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, Irvine. Beier received a Ph.D. in Biological and Biomedical Sciences from Harvard University in 2012, where he developed viral tracing methods for mapping genetically-defined neural circuitry. He completed postdoctoral training at Stanford University from 2012 to 2018 in the Departments of Biology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. Beier's research focuses on neural circuit mechanisms underlying addiction, pain, and neurodegenerative diseases, with particular emphasis on developing and applying viral-genetic tools to map and manipulate brain connectivity.
Beier has received an NIH DP2 New Innovator Award and serves as principal investigator on multiple NIH R01 grants investigating topics including pain chronification, opioid dependence, and Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis. His laboratory has also been funded by the Alzheimer's Association, Brain and Behavior Research Foundation, Tobacco Related Disease Research Program, and other organizations. His work has resulted in over 50 peer-reviewed publications in journals including Nature, Science, Cell, and Neuron, with an h-index of 34.
Beier served as Associate Director of the Interdepartmental Neuroscience Program at UCI and has participated in multiple NIH study sections, including as co-chair for the NIDA Cutting Edge Basic Research Award panel. He has been recognized with the UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Rising Star Award, the One Mind Janssen Rising Stars Award, and was named a Samueli Scholar by the Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute. Beier has delivered invited seminars at institutions across North America, Asia, and Europe, and maintains an active role in graduate education and mentorship of trainees from underserved populations.
Return to topEducation
- BS in Biochemistry, French, Biology, Zoology, and Molecular Biology, University of Wisconsin – Madison, 2007
- PhD in Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Harvard University, 2012
Distinctions
- NIH DP2 New Innovator Award, 2019
- Brain and Behavior Research Foundation Daniel X. Freedman Prize, Honorable Mention, 2020
- NIDA Start a SUD Startup Challenge Winner and Innovation to Impact (i2i) participant, 2020
- Phi Beta Kappa, 2007
- Samueli Scholar, Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, 2023
- One Mind Janssen Rising Stars Award, 2020
- Sammy Kuo Award in Neuroscience (Best paper by Stanford postdoc), 2015
- UCI Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory Rising Star Award, 2022
- Chancellor's Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research, 2022
- UCI Faculty Innovation Fellow, 2020
Areas of Expertise
- Neural Circuit Mapping
- Dopaminergic System Connectivity
- Viral Tracing Methodology
- Transsynaptic Labeling Techniques
- Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis
- Opioid Addiction Circuitry
- Cationic Peptide Neurotoxicity
Recent Publications
- Bartas K, Nguyen M, Hui M, Zhao W, Nie Q, Beier KT, “Analysis of changes in inter-cellular communications in Alzheimer's disease reveals conserved changes in glutamatergic transmission in mice and humans” (opens in new tab), Scientific Reports, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 26248, 2025.
- Miller CN, Li Y, Beier KT, Aoto J, “Acute stress causes sex-specific changes to ventral subiculum synapses, circuitry, and anxiety-like behavior” (opens in new tab), Nature Communications, vol. 16, no. 1, pp. 5604, 2025.
- Wiest A, Maurer JJ, Beier KT, Weber F, Chung S, “Role of Hypothalamic CRH Neurons in Regulating the Impact of Stress on Memory and Sleep” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 45, no. 27, pp. e2146242025, 2025.
- Hubbard E, Derdeyn P, Galinato VM, Wu A, Bartas K, Mahler SV, Beier KT, “Neural circuit basis of adolescent THC-induced potentiation of opioid responses in adult mice” (opens in new tab), Neuropsychopharmacology, vol. 50, no. 5, pp. 818-827, 2025.
- Stokes E, Vasquez JJ, Azouz G, Nguyen M, Tierno A, Zhuang Y, Hui M, Toledano M, Tyler I, Shi X, Aoto J, Hunt RF, Beier KT, “Cationic peptides cause memory loss through endophilin-mediated endocytosis” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 638, no. 8050, pp. 479-489, 2025.
- Tian G, Bartas K, Hui M, Chen L, Vasquez JJ, Azouz G, Derdeyn P, Manville R, Ho E, Fang AS, Li Y, Tyler I, Setola V, Aoto J, Abbott GW, Beier KT, “Molecular and circuit determinants in the globus pallidus mediating control of cocaine-induced behavioral plasticity” (opens in new tab), Neuron, vol. 112, no. 20, pp. 3470-3485, 2024.
- Bartas K, Hui M, Derdeyn P, Tian G, Vasquez JJ, Azouz G, Yamamoto CM, Beier KT, “Mapping long-term changes in inputs to the ventral tegmental area after a single drug exposure” (opens in new tab), eLife, 2024.
- Hong J, Beier KT, Chung S, Weber F, “Prefrontal Cortical Regulation of REM Sleep” (opens in new tab), Nature Neuroscience, vol. 26, no. 10, pp. 1820-1832, 2023.
- Chen YH, Yang J, Wu H, Beier KT, Sawan M, “Challenges and future trends in wearable closed-loop neuromodulation to efficiently treat methamphetamine addiction” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Psychiatry, vol. 14, pp. 1085036, 2023.
- Beier KT, “Modified viral-genetic mapping reveals local and global connectivity relationships of ventral tegmental area dopamine cells” (opens in new tab), Elife, vol. 11, pp. e76886, 2022.
- Tian G, Hui M, Macchia D, Derdeyn P, Rogers A, Hubbard E, Liu C, Vasquez JJ, Bartas K, Carroll S, Beier KT, “An extended amygdala-midbrain circuit controlling cocaine withdrawal-induced anxiety and reinstatement” (opens in new tab), Cell Reports, vol. 39, no. 5, pp. 110775, 2022.
- Derdeyn P, Hui M, Macchia D, Beier KT, “Uncovering the connectivity logic of the ventral tegmental area” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Neural Circuits, vol. 15, pp. 799688, 2022.
- Hui M, Beier KT, “Defining the interconnectivity of the medial prefrontal cortex and ventral midbrain” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience, vol. 15, pp. 971349, 2022.
- Rogers A, Toledano M, Hubbard E, Macchia D, Hui M, Beier KT, “A student-centered seminar course as a complementary approach to a traditional journal club” (opens in new tab), Advances in Physiology Education, vol. 46, no. 1, pp. 77-83, 2022.
- Wu X, Morishita W, Beier KT, Heifets BD, Malenka RC, “5-HT modulation of a medial septal circuit tunes social memory stability” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 599, no. 7883, pp. 96-101, 2021.
- Beier KT, “The serendipity of viral trans-neuronal specificity: more than meets the eye” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Cellular Neuroscience, vol. 15, pp. 720807, 2021.
- Rogers A, Beier KT, “Can transsynaptic viral strategies be used to reveal functional aspects of neural circuitry?” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience Methods, vol. 348, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Beier KT, Steinberg EE, DeLoach KE, Xie S, Gao XJ, Miyamichi K, Schwarz LA, Kremer EJ, Malenka RC, Luo L, “Circuit architecture of midbrain dopamine neurons revealed by systematic input–output mapping” (opens in new tab), Cell, vol. 162, pp. 622-634, 2015.
- Weber F, Chung S, Beier KT, Luo L, Dan Y, “Control of REM sleep by ventral medulla GABAergic neurons” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 526, no. 7573, pp. 435-8, 2015.
- Beier KT, Saunders A, Oldenburg IA, Miyamichi K, Ahktar N, Luo L, Whelan S, Sabatini BL, Cepko C, “Anterograde and retrograde transsynaptic labeling of CNS neurons with vesicular stomatitis virus vectors” (opens in new tab), Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, vol. 108, no. 37, pp. 15414-9, 2011.
- Beier KT, Eppanapally S, Bazick HS, Chang D, Mahadevappa K, Gibbons FK, Christopher KB, “Elevation of blood urea nitrogen is predictive of long-term mortality in critically ill patients independent of "normal" creatinine” (opens in new tab), Critical Care Medicine, vol. 39, no. 2, pp. 305-13, 2011.
- Nassi JJ, Cepko CL, Born RT, Beier KT, “Neuroanatomy goes viral!” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Neuroanatomy, vol. 9, pp. 80, 2015.
- Cronican JJ, Beier KT, Davis TN, Tseng J, Li W, Brown J, Thompson DB, Shih A, Cepko CL, Kung AL, Zhou Q, Liu DR, “Naturally supercharged human proteins deliver proteins into mammalian cells in vitro and in vivo” (opens in new tab), Chemistry and Biology, vol. 18, no. 7, pp. 833-8, 2011.
- Beier KT, Kim CK, Hoerbelt P, Hung LW, Heifets BD, DeLoach KE, Mosca TJ, Neuner S, Deisseroth K, Luo L, Malenka RC, “Rabies screen reveals GPe control of cocaine-triggered plasticity” (opens in new tab), Nature, vol. 549, pp. 345-350, 2017.
- Beier KT, Gao XJ, Xie S, DeLoach KE, Malenka RC, Luo L, “Topological organization of ventral tegmental area connectivity revealed by viral-genetic dissection of input-output relations” (opens in new tab), Cell Reports, vol. 26, pp. 1-9, 2019.
- Beier KT, Saunders A, Oldenburg I, Sabatini B, Cepko C, “Vesicular stomatitis virus with the rabies virus glycoprotein directs retrograde transsynaptic transport among neurons in vivo” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Neural Circuits, vol. 7, pp. 11, 2013.
- Beier K.T., Borghuis B.G., El-Danaf R.N., Huberman A.D., Demb J.B., Cepko C.L., “Transsynaptic tracing with vesicular stomatitis virus reveals novel retinal circuitry” (opens in new tab), Journal of Neuroscience, vol. 33, pp. 35-51, 2013.
Contact Information
Email: kbeier@uci.edu
Phone: (949) 824-1083
Address: Lab: 320 Med Sci I, Irvine, CA 92697-4560
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Last updated on 3/12/2026.