Hienz, Robert D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor

Main Office Address

Bayview Medical Campus
Behavioral Biology Research Center, Suite 3000

Phone: 410-550-2788
Fax: 410-550-2780

E-mail: bhienz@mail.jhmi.edu

Off Campus Address

Lab
Bayview
Behavioral Biology Research Center
Phone 410-550-2791

Administrative Assistant

Kelley Waddell
Phone: 410-550-2800
Email: kwaddel2@jhmi.edu

Education

Professional Interests

Research interests include: 1) basic research on auditory perception in animals, particularly in the area of auditory psychophysics in non-human primates. 2) the effects of drugs of abuse on perceptual and motor function in non-human primates. Studies combine the techniques of animal psychophysics with the methodologies of behavioral pharmacology to provide an animal experimental model of the clinical effects of drugs, including drugs of abuse, on auditory perception and motor function, and have provided a description of perceptual/motor "profiles" of drug effects that can differentiate among many drugs. 3) The behavioral consequences of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and drug use.  4) The effects of space flight on human performance, with currently funded research involved in the development of an interactive, computerized, multi-person simulation for modeling psychosocial performances within and between space-dwelling and Earth-based groups.

Selected Publications

Weed, M.R., Hienz, R.D., Brady, J.V., Adams, R.J., Mankowski, J.L., Zink, M.C., & Clements, J.E.  CNS correlates of behavioral impairment following dual infection with SIV/17E-Fr and SIV/DeltaB670 in pigtailed macaques.  Journal of NeuroVirology, 9(4): 452-464, 2003.

Hienz, R.D. and Weerts, E.M.  Baboons in Drug Abuse Research.  In:  VandeBerg, J.L., Williams-Blanger, S., Tardif, S.D. (eds) The Baboon in Biomedical Research, Kluwer Academic Publishers, in press. 

Hienz RD, Jones AM, Weerts EM: The discrimination of baboon grunt calls and human vowel sounds by baboons. Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, 2004: 116 (3): 1692-1697.

Hienz RD, Brady JV, Hursh SR, Ragusa LC, Rouse CO, Gasior ED:  Distributed communication and psychosocial performance in simulated space dwelling groups. Acta Astronautica, 2005: 56: 937-948.

Hienz RD, Weerts EM: Cocaine’s effects on the perception of socially significant vocalizations in baboons. Pharmacology, Biochemistry, and Behavior, 2005: 81 (3): 440-450.