Maged Harraz

Dr. Harraz is an Assistant Professor at the Departments of Psychiatry and Pharmacology, University of Maryland School of Medicine.

His lab studies the molecular mechanisms underlying cocaine addiction and neural cell survival/death. Dr. Harraz's research aims to elucidate the interplay between redox signaling and protein homeostasis to leverage for drug discovery for neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. His lab uses multidisciplinary approaches to investigate the role of a novel selective autophagy pathway in motivated behavior, neurodegeneration, and virus-host interactions. His work reveals that autophagic proteostasis regulates dopaminergic neurotransmission, rewarding actions of cocaine, and illicit drug toxicity. His most recent work has uncovered a putative novel high-affinity receptor for cocaine.

Dr. Harraz received his medical and master's degrees from the Suez Canal University School of Medicine in Ismailia, Egypt. He completed his Ph.D. in cell biology and molecular medicine at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine in Iowa City, IA. He then conducted his postdoctoral work in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.