Award
National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism 5P50AA022538-12
Epigenetic mechanisms of positive affective state of AUD
Recipient
University of Illinois at Chicago
Award Amount
$228,892.00
Ceiling
$228,892.00
Awarded
June 09, 2026
Identifier
5P50AA022538-12
Research project funded by NIAAA to study epigenetic changes in brain neurons during alcohol withdrawal to develop better treatments for alcohol use disorder.
Description
The project aims to understand epigenetic adaptation of ventral tegmental area (VTA) neurons involved in the positive affective state during alcohol withdrawal, using techniques such as 10x genomics, 3-D electron microscopy, spatial transcriptomics, electrophysiology, behavioral studies, and molecular biology to characterize gene expression changes and their effects on withdrawal-induced phenotypes, with the goal of informing pharmacological approaches for treating alcohol use disorder (AUD).