Thaisa Sandini
Assistant Lecturer
Email: sandini@ualberta.ca
Academic Activities
My teaching duties include delivering lectures on the pharmacology of commonly used drugs and providing hands-on training in experimental pharmacology (lab course), with a primary focus on behavioural models.
My teaching duties cover the pharmacology of the following courses:
PMCOL 200: Drugs An Introduction to Pharmacology
PMCOL 343: Scientific Basis of Pharmacology: Part I
PMCOL 344: Scientific Basis of Pharmacology: Part II
PMCOL 337: Experimental Procedures in Pharmacology
My teaching philosophy centers on creating an active, inclusive, and supportive learning environment where students are encouraged to think critically, ask questions, and engage with the material. I strive to make learning accessible to all by providing clear resources, open communication, and real-world examples that connect theory to practice.
Research Interests: Animal Model, Maternal Exposure, Neurodevelopment, Neurological and Neuropsychiatric Disorders
1: Gonçalves FB, Garcia-Gomes MSA, Silva-Sampaio AC, Kirsten TB, Bondan EF,
Sandini TM, Flório JC, Lebrun I, Coque AC, Alexandre-Ribeiro SR, Massironi SMG,
Mori CMC, Bernardi MM. Progressive tremor and motor impairment in seizure-prone
mutant tremor mice are associated with neurotransmitter dysfunction. Behav Brain
Res. 2023 Apr 12;443:114329. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2023.114329. Epub 2023 Feb 4.
PMID: 36746310.
2: Sandini TM, Greba Q, Lins BR, Howland JG. Maternal Immune Activation with the
Viral Mimetic Poly:IC in Pregnant Rats. Bio Protoc. 2020 Nov 20;10(22):e3817.
doi: 10.21769/BioProtoc.3817. PMID: 33659469; PMCID: PMC7842329.
3: Barnard IL, Onofrychuk TJ, Sandini TM, McElroy DL, Zagzoog A, Roebuck AJ,
Austin-Scott FV, Laprairie RB, Howland JG. The effects of acute Cannabis smoke
or Δ9-THC injections on the trial-unique, nonmatching-to-location and
five-choice serial reaction time tasks in male Long-Evans rats. Neurobiol Learn
Mem. 2022 Jul;192:107624. doi: 10.1016/j.nlm.2022.107624. Epub 2022 May 2. PMID:
35513236.
4: Roebuck AJ, Greba Q, Onofrychuk TJ, McElroy DL, Sandini TM, Zagzoog A, Simone
J, Cain SM, Snutch TP, Laprairie RB, Howland JG. Dissociable changes in spike
and wave discharges following exposure to injected cannabinoids and smoked
cannabis in Genetic Absence Epilepsy Rats from Strasbourg. Eur J Neurosci. 2022
Feb;55(4):1063-1078. doi: 10.1111/ejn.15096. Epub 2021 Jan 23. PMID: 33370468.
5: Manes M, Garcia-Gomes MSA, Sandini TM, Zaccarelli-Magalhães J, Florio JC,
Alexandre-Ribeiro SR, Wadt D, Bernardi MM, Massironi SMG, Mori CMC. Behavioral
and neurochemical characterization of the mlh mutant mice lacking otoconia.
Behav Brain Res. 2019 Feb 1;359:958-966. doi: 10.1016/j.bbr.2018.06.012. Epub
2018 Jun 18. PMID: 29913187.
6: McElroy DL, Roebuck AJ, Onofrychuk TJ, Sandini TM, Greba Q, Howland JG.
Implementation of ezTrack open-source pipeline for quantifying rat locomotor
behavior: Comparison to commercially available software. Neurosci Lett. 2020 Apr
1;723:134839. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2020.134839. Epub 2020 Feb 14. PMID:
32067987.
7: Sandini TM, Onofrychuk TJ, Roebuck AJ, Hammond SA, Udenze D, Hayat S, Herdzik
MA, McElroy DL, Orvold SN, Greba Q, Laprairie RB, Howland JG. Repeated Exposure
to High-THC Cannabis Smoke during Gestation Alters Sex Ratio, Behavior,
and Amygdala Gene Expression of Sprague Dawley Rat Offspring. eNeuro. 2023 Nov
28;10(11):ENEURO.0100-23.2023. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0100-23.2023. PMID: 37957008;
PMCID: PMC10687874.
8: de Lima AP, Sandini TM, Reis-Silva TM, Massoco CO. Long-lasting monoaminergic
and behavioral dysfunctions in a mice model of socio-environmental stress during
adolescence. Behav Brain Res. 2017 Jan 15;317:132-140. doi:
10.1016/j.bbr.2016.09.024. Epub 2016 Sep 15. PMID: 27641324.
9: Reis-Silva TM, Cohn DW, Sandini TM, Udo MS, Teodorov E, Bernardi MM. Prenatal
lipopolysaccharide exposure affects sexual dimorphism in different germlines of
mice with a depressive phenotype. Life Sci. 2016 Mar 15;149:129-37. doi:
10.1016/j.lfs.2016.02.068. Epub 2016 Feb 17. PMID: 26898128.
10: Garcia-Gomes MSA, Zanatto DA, Galvis-Alonso OY, Mejia J, Antiorio ATFB,
Yamamoto PK, Olivato MCM, Sandini TM, Flório JC, Lebrun I, Massironi SMG,
Alexandre-Ribeiro SR, Bernardi MM, Ienne S, de Souza TA, Dagli MLZ, Mori CMC.
Behavioral and neurochemical characterization of the spontaneous mutation
tremor, a new mouse model of audiogenic seizures. Epilepsy Behav. 2020
Apr;105:106945. doi: 10.1016/j.yebeh.2020.106945. Epub 2020 Feb 25. PMID:
32109856.
11: Moreira N, Sandini TM, Reis-Silva TM, Navas-Suáresz P, Auada AVV, Lebrun I,
Flório JC, Bernardi MM, Spinosa HS. Ivermectin reduces motor coordination, serum
testosterone, and central neurotransmitter levels but does not affect sexual
motivation in male rats. Reprod Toxicol. 2017 Dec;74:195-203. doi:
10.1016/j.reprotox.2017.10.002. Epub 2017 Oct 18. PMID: 29055807.
12: Zaccarelli-Magalhães J, Moreira N, Sandini TM, de Abreu GR, Sánchez-
Sarmiento AM, Ricci EL, Fukushima AR, de Souza Spinosa H. Evaluation of
Prolonged Exposure to Varenicline in Adult Rats: Haematological, Biochemical and
Anatomopathological Studies. Basic Clin Pharmacol Toxicol. 2018
Mar;122(3):305-309. doi: 10.1111/bcpt.12913. Epub 2017 Oct 18. PMID: 28944993.
13: Sandini TM, Marks WN, Tahir NB, Song Y, Greba Q, Howland JG. NMDA Receptors
in Visual and Olfactory Sensory Integration in Male Long Evans Rats: A Role for
the Orbitofrontal Cortex. Neuroscience. 2020 Aug 1;440:230-238. doi:
10.1016/j.neuroscience.2020.05.041. Epub 2020 Jun 1. PMID: 32497759.
14: Moreira N, Vicente FL, Sandini TM, Martinelli ECL, Navas-Suárez PE, Reis-
Silva TM, Spinosa HS. Effects of ivermectin treatment during prepubertal and
pubertal period on sexual parameters and sexual behavior in adulthood in rats.
Res Vet Sci. 2020 Apr;129:21-27. doi: 10.1016/j.rvsc.2019.12.013. Epub 2019 Dec
16. PMID: 31927177.
15: Sandini TM, Udo MS, Reis-Silva TM, Sanches D, Bernardi MM, Flório JC,
Spinosa Hde S. Prenatal exposure to integerrimine N-oxide enriched butanolic
residue from Senecio brasiliensis affects behavior and striatal neurotransmitter
levels of rats in adulthood. Int J Dev Neurosci. 2015 Dec;47(Pt B):157-64. doi:
10.1016/j.ijdevneu.2015.09.003. Epub 2015 Sep 28. PMID: 26416213.
16: Reis-Silva TM, Sandini TM, Calefi AS, Orlando BCG, Moreira N, Lima APN,
Florio JC, Queiroz-Hazarbassanov NGT, Bernardi MM. Stress resilience evidenced
by grooming behaviour and dopamine levels in male mice selected for high and low
immobility using the tail suspension test. Eur J Neurosci. 2019
Sep;50(6):2942-2954. doi: 10.1111/ejn.14409. Epub 2019 Apr 23. PMID: 30888692.
17: Sandini TM, Reis-Silva TM, Moreira N, Bernardi MM, Lebrun I, Spinosa HS.
Effects of isoflavones on behavior, estradiol, glutamate, and GABA levels in
intact middle-aged female rats. Nutr Neurosci. 2019 Nov;22(11):805-816. doi:
10.1080/1028415X.2018.1447296. Epub 2018 Mar 7. PMID: 29514592.
18: Zaccarelli-Magalhães J, Sandini TM, de Abreu GR, Petrocelli BM, Moreira N,
Reis-Silva TM, Lebrun I, Flório JC, Ricci EL, Fukushima AR, Faria Waziry PA, de
Souza Spinosa H. Prolonged exposure of rats to varenicline increases anxiety and
alters serotonergic system, but has no effect on memory. Pharmacol Biochem
Behav. 2019 Jun;181:1-8. doi: 10.1016/j.pbb.2019.03.009. Epub 2019 Apr 1. PMID:
30946884.
19: Oliveira NA, Sandini TM, Cornelio-Santiago HP, Martinelli ECL, Raspantini
LER, Raspantini PC, Momo C, Oliveira AL, Fukumasu H. Acute and subacute (28
days) toxicity of green coffee oil enriched with diterpenes cafestol and kahweol
in rats. Regul Toxicol Pharmacol. 2020 Feb;110:104517. doi:
10.1016/j.yrtph.2019.104517. Epub 2019 Nov 9. PMID: 31707131.
20: Margatho RO, Massoco CO, Calefi AS, Cruz DSG, Sandini TM, Alves GJ, Florio
JC, Palermo-Neto J. Beta-Adrenergic Blockade Decreases the Neuroimmune Changes
in Mice Induced by Cohabitation with an Ehrlich Tumor-Bearing Cage Mate.
Neuroimmunomodulation. 2017;24(1):40-53. doi: 10.1159/000477938. Epub 2017 Aug
9. PMID: 28787722.