Vanderbilt Center For Addiction Research

New research reveals that alcohol use can cause long-lasting changes in the brain’s dopamine system, even during abstinence. Vanderbilt researchers found that even after a month without alcohol, key regulators of dopamine activity remained altered, potentially increasing the risk of relapse. The study also challenges long-held assumptions about how gene expression relates to brain function, opening new doors for precision treatments in alcohol use disorder. Read More

Meet Elana Milano, program manager for research for the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics in the School of Medicine Basic Sciences. Read More

Calipari wins award for transforming scientists’ understanding of how behavioral circuits are dysregulated by long-term drug use and for her commitment to train and support the next generation of addiction scientists. Read More

The Vanderbilt School of Medicine Basic Sciences’ pharmacology department and the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research hosted a special event on April 22 focused on the importance of funding for diverse trainees and faculty in academic settings. The speakers discussed the various grants to fund underrepresented trainees and faculty at various stages in their career. Read More

The Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research hosted Science Day on April 18. The annual event, which started in 2017, featured the latest research in addiction, including investigations into alcohol, opioids, and stimulants. Read More

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

Join the next Lab-to-Table conversation, “Beyond Addiction: Therapeutic Developments and Societal Impact” on Jan. 24 at 11:30 a.m. CT. Read More

Erin Calipari works to understand how drugs like opioids and cocaine alter learning circuits and neurochemistry in one of the country's epicenters of substance use disorder and addiction. Read More