Addiction Research

For years, people thought of dopamine as the “reward molecule,” fueling cravings for drugs and other substances by giving users a hit of pleasure. But recent studies by Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research investigators, such as Erin Calipari, have challenged that assumption. Read More

Avenir Award funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse recognizes research that represents “the future of addiction science.” Brown’s research is creating an AI-experiment feedback loop that will help optimize painkilling drugs to be less addictive. Read More

Erin Calipari, associate professor of pharmacology and associate director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research, has received a grant of nearly $2 million from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism to understand what happens in the brain that makes… Read More