National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA)

The Division of Treatment and Recovery (DTR) is an extramural NIAAA Division that focuses on developing treatments for alcohol use disorder (AUD), increasing their use in real-word settings, and understanding the process of recovery as individuals make progress in overcoming AUD. The Division is comprised of two branches: the Medications Development Branch (MDB) and the Treatment, Health Services, and Recovery...

NIAAA’s Alcohol Research Resource (R24 and R28) Awards support investigator-initiated projects that develop resources to serve the broader alcohol-research community. Resources include biological specimens, animals, data, materials, tools, or services made available to any qualified investigato r to accelerate alcohol-related research in a cost-effective manner. Please send inquiries to the Principal Investigator listed below or contact the appropriate NIAAA Program...

At some time during their lives, more than 30 percent of U.S. adults surveyed in 2001-2002 had met current diagnostic criteria [i] for an alcohol use disorder (AUD), according to an article in the current issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry . Many of those persons never received treatment, and many others did not receive treatment until well after...

Fri, 02/10/2023 - 12:00

This article was first published in NIAAA Spectrum Volume 15, Issue 1. Drinking too much—whether on a single occasion or over many years—can take a serious toll on an individual’s health. Clinicians across the health care spectrum can play important roles in preventing and treating the harmful effects of alcohol. This role is particularly important among providers who manage patients...

Cross-cutting research programs are NIAAA-managed research portfolios that include topics spanning multiple research goals outlined in this strategic plan. These programs complement the Cross-Cutting Research Themes and Supporting the Mission sections of this strategic plan. Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorders Fetal alcohol spectrum disorders (FASD) represent the broad range of neurodevelopmental impairments and other physical effects that result from prenatal exposure...

Jenica Tapocik is a Staff Neuroscientist in the Laboratory of Clinical & Translational Studies at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism. Jenica is studying addiction and is hoping to better understand how and why people become addicts. She is also studying the difference between the brains of addicted individuals and non-addicted individuals.

Dr. Kenneth Kendler is a world-renowned expert on the genetics of psychiatric and substance abuse disorders. Fueled by a lifelong interest in how the human mind works, Dr. Kendler pursues research on how genes and the environment contribute to the development of alcohol use disorders, as well as other psychiatric problems. His research has transformed how we understand the relationships...

Preliminary NIH study shows increased levels of beta-amyloid Losing just one night of sleep led to an immediate increase in beta-amyloid, a protein in the brain associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a small, new study by researchers at the National Institutes of Health. In Alzheimer’s disease, beta-amyloid proteins clump together to form amyloid plaques, a hallmark of the disease...

HHS Secretary Donna E. Shalala recently announced the appointment of six new members to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The Council advises on the conduct and support of biomedical and behavioral research, health services research, research training, and health information dissemination with respect to the causes...

A new drug developed by scientists at the National Institutes of Health limits the progression of liver fibrosis in mice, a hopeful advance against a condition for which there is no current treatment and that often leads to serious liver disease in people with chronic alcoholism and other common diseases. "This study represents an important step towards an effective treatment...

A multinational research team led by scientists at the National Institutes of Health has found that a genetic variant of a brain receptor molecule may contribute to violently impulsive behavior when people who carry it are under the influence of alcohol. A report of the findings, which include human genetic analyses and gene knockout studies in animals, appears in the...

Fri, 08/02/2013 - 12:00

Fri, 08/02/2013 - 12:00

New data offers a glimpse into the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the formation of habitual actions, such as addiction to alcohol. In a study conducted in mice and rats, scientists in NIAAA’s Laboratory for Integrative Neuroscience examined the cellular basis for learning and memory in the dorsolateral striatum, a part of the brain involved in habit learning. A particular receptor in...

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has a formal appeals process to resolve disagreements between grant applicants and NIH review committees and/or NIH staff concerning the referral and peer review of grant applications. The NOT-OD-11-064: Appeals of NIH Initial Peer Review dated April 15, 2011 provides full information on the NIH policy on "Appeals of Scientific Peer Review". The NIH...

George F. Koob, Ph.D., director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health, has been elected to the National Academy of Medicine (NAM). Membership in the NAM is considered one of the highest honors in the fields of health and medicine and recognizes individuals who have made significant contributions to those...

National Institutes of Health Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., announced today the selection of George F. Koob, Ph.D., as Director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. Koob is expected to join the NIH in January 2014. “With his distinguished reputation and vision, I am confident that George will encourage innovative ideas in the basic neurobiology...

Thu, 08/08/2019 - 12:00

Thu, 08/08/2019 - 12:00

A new study led by researchers at the National Institute and Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), identifies regions of the rat genome that are associated with a behavior that is highly predictive of addiction onset and progression. The region in the rat genome with the strongest association with the behavior corresponded to...

Hadley Bergstrom is a psychologist, studying in the Laboratory of Behavioral & Genomic Neuroscience. Hadley studies how habits and memories are formed, and is trying to better understand addiction.

Nick Jury is a Postdoctoral researcher in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Studying in the Laboratory of Behavioral & Genomic Neuroscience, Nick is looking at the differences of alcohol abuse in males and females.

Katie Kaugars is a Post-bacc researcher at the National Institutes of Health in the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse & Alcoholism. Katie is studying the genetics behind alcoholism, and how genes can contribute to the development of alcoholism. Katie works in the Laboratory of Behavioral & Genomic Neuroscience.

An experimental compound repaired a defective alcohol metabolism enzyme that affects an estimated 1 billion people worldwide, according to research supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). The findings, published Jan. 10, 2010 in the advance online edition of Nature Structural and Molecular Biology, suggest the possibility of a treatment to reduce the health problems associated...