The Center for Addiction Research (CAR) was inaugurated in January, 2004, and is comprised of ~60 faculty and healthcare staff from all four schools of the institution. The goal is to establish the CAR as a 'beacon' or coordinating force for translational research in addiction based on a strategy of developing and nurturing opportunities for interdisciplinary investigations and training of new investigators in translational approaches. The CAR is awaiting completion of the new Neuroscience (Bldg 17) building which will provide research, teaching and office space.
The research foundation of CAR is grounded in preclinical investigation, which is the basis for the majority of our research successes ($5.75 million in NIH funds). In the past year, members have submitted proposals to the NIH to fund several new translational and multidisciplinary projects totaling ($18.3 million). In addition, the CAR has funded several projects under the pilot grant program Frontiers in Addiction Research and Treatment.
|
Titles |
PI |
Dept/Center |
|
Proteome Map of Nicotine Addiction |
Kelly Dineley,
Ph.D. |
Neurology, |
|
Alpha-1C L-type Ca Channel in Alcoholism |
Philip Palade, Ph.D. |
Neuroscience
and |
|
In-Situ Optical Determination of 5-HT2AR-PDZ Interactions |
Todd Pappas, Ph.D. |
Center for Biomedical Engineering, Pharmacology |
|
Enhancing the Assessment of Treatment Needs and Integration of a Responsive Parenting Program for Mothers with Newborns Identified as Cocaine Exposed |
Karen Smith, Ph.D. |
Neurology and Pediatrics |
|
Improved Treatment Outcomes through Coordinated Service Delivery |
Ellie Hanley |
Signals of Sobriety |
The CAR is currently searching for an Assistant or Associate Professor, tenure track, in collaboration with the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.
The Core for Behavioral Neuroscience is developing under the direction of Stacy L. Sell, Ph.D. This Core will be housed within the CAR space and is designed to provide animal models necessary to investigate a number of research questions under study or planned in Neuroscience and Cell Biology, Neurology, Pharmacology, Psychiatry and other centers (e.g., Mitchell Alzheimer's Center). We are currently developing a business plan for this institutional service center, establishing its Steering Committee and user's workgroup, and purchasing equipment.
The CAR will assist in the development of protocols (IRB, GCRC) for clinical trials in addiction. We are currently funded under subcontract from NIDA through UTHSC-H for a clinical trial of a new medication for the treatment of cocaine addiction.
The CAR funds pre-submission review of members' NIH grants by reviewers with service on NIH study sections. The CAR Staff Grant Writer, Marcy J. Bubar, Ph.D., provides assistance in writing, editing and formatting grants and the CAR staff provides secretarial, budget and grant preparation support for submissions.
The CAR supports pre- and post-doctoral education through the NIDA T32 DA07287 training grant: "Pharmacological and Neural Mechanisms of Action of Drugs of Abuse." This grant supports multidisciplinary research employing cutting-edge methodological approaches that span from the examination of gene transcription to proteomics to intracellular synaptic currents to the pharmacological analysis of mechanisms underlying addiction.
We support an annual Excellence in Addiction Research Award to honor excellence in addiction research by a Summer Undergraduate Research Program (SURP) student at UTMB each summer, and we support the NIDA Trainee Mixer at the annual meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, the key organization for basic and translational research in addiction. The CAR also staffs a table at the Galveston County Health Fair to disseminate information on drug abuse and addiction to the community; this table is organized by the trainees. We also fund the attendance of local community treatment providers to attend national meetings on the blending of treatment and research in addiction.
The CAR Seminar Series has hosted eight leading scientists in the area of addiction research for 2004-2005. The audience includes individuals from all areas of campus. The current seminar schedule is found on the CAR website at UTMB Center for Addiction Research
The CAR has led the effort to develop the Texas Roadmap on Addiction Consortium (TRAC) to facilitate the development of multi-institutional translational research efforts in addiction and the development of public advocacy initiatives in Texas, particularly focused on increasing the awareness of addiction as a preventable and treatable brain disease.