NEWARK, Del. — People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals is accusing an award-winning University of Delaware professor of abusing lab rats.

The News Journal of Wilmington reports PETA filed complaints Wednesday with the school’s president and a federal agency that helps fund the professor’s research. They say an associate professor in the school’s psychology and brain sciences department, Tania Roth, has subjected rats to “psychologically distressing and painful experiments” for nearly 18 years.

Roth’s research focuses on how early life stressors can alter the brain and affect genetic behavior and expression. University spokesman Peter Bothum says the university follows federal animal welfare guidelines. Roth declined the Journal’s request for comment.

PETA will host a meeting on Roth’s research Thursday, marking the first time it has targeted a researcher at a Delaware university.