Research
PEOPLE AND TECHNOLOGY ARE KEY TO REALIZING OUR VISION
Every day, we endeavor to transform how we view and treat addiction. Harnessing the power of people and technology are key to realizing this vision. Our strategy is to build a team of researchers and clinician-scientists with complementary and synergistic expertise across the spectrum of addiction science and give them cutting edge tools with which to conduct high impact brain science leading to new, effective therapies for addiction.
Research Highlights
Led by Marco Pravetoni, PhD, an associate professor in the Medical School’s Department of Pharmacology and member of the Medical Discovery Team on Addiction, the grant supports the development of antibody-based medical countermeasures against toxicity and death after exposure — whether deliberate or accidental — to fentanyl and fentanyl-like drugs, including alfentanil, acetylfentanyl and carfentanil.
Dr. Monica Luciana, professor of psychology, McKnight Land-Grant Professor, and colleague Dr. Angela Birnbaum, professor, Department of Experimental and Clinical Pharmacology received an MDT on Addiction pilot grant to study the neurobehavioral effects of medical cannabis treatments for pain.
Alik Widge, MD, PhD, an assistant professor in the Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and his team are using his previously developed methods of syncing and unsyncing brain waves to develop a novel, human-ready neuromodulation device for people with mental health disorders.
NIDA Core Center of Excellence: Center for Neural Circuits in Addiction
The Brain science of drug addiction has progressed through phases, each driven by knowledge gaps and enabled by technical advancements. We are now in the third phase - the study of neural circuits in addiction. At the University of Minnesota, our team members are on the forefront of the technological innovations needed to contribute to the neural-circuit phase of addiction research. Learn more about our Center for Neural Circuits in Addiction, a NIDA Core Center of Excellence, and the people and tools that will enable high impact discoveries leading to new, more effective therapies for addiction.