Yale Bulletin and Calendar

December 6, 2002|Volume 31, Number 13

Grant supports drug research-training
project in Thailand

Dr. Joel Gelernter, Dr. Robert Malison and their colleagues at the School of Medicine received a
$1.6 million grant to conduct an international research-training program in the genetics of drug dependence.

The grant is one of the first International Collaborative Genetics Research Training Program awards that were given by the Fogarty International Center (FIC) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and seven partners to support international collaborations in human genetic sciences. All told, six projects will receive about $11.5 million over the next five years through the program.

Gelernter, Malison and their Yale colleagues will collaborate with the Faculty of Medicine at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok, Thailand. The Thai researchers will receive short- and long-term fellowships to train in the United States. The project will also support one-month field exchange training rotations in Thailand for U.S. trainees.

"Substance dependence is a huge problem in Thailand now -- historically it's often been a serious problem, but the current epidemic is really unprecedented," says Gelernter, professor of psychiatry.

According to Gelernter, genetic factors are known to be important in determining risk for various kinds of substance dependence. The purpose of the project is to train Thai investigators in the genetics of substance dependence in order to help build up research capacity to address
this problem.

"Yale has superb depth in its substance dependence research faculty," says Gelernter, adding that the U.S. participants "will be able to provide Thai trainees with exposure to highest-level research in a range of areas of focus, including ethical issues, transgenics, gene mapping, statistical genetics and other areas."

In addition to Gelernter and Malison, who is associate professor of psychiatry, the Yale participants include Dr. Joseph Cubells Jr., associate professor of psychiatry; Dr. Jaako Lappalainen, instuctor in psychiatry; Joseph L. Mahoney, assistant professor of psychiatry; Marina Piccotto, associate professor of psychiatry, pharmocology and neurobiology; Marc Potenza, assistant professor of psychiatry; Dr. Bruce J. Rounsaville, professor of psychiatry; and Hongyu Zhao, the Ira V. Hiscock Associate Professor of Epidemiology & Public Health and Genetics.

FIC led the development of the International Collaborative Genetics Research Training Program in close collaboration with six NIH institutes and the World Health Organization. In addition to FIC, the NIH partners are the National Human Genome Research Institute and the National Institutes of Mental Health, Neurological Disorders and Stroke, Aging, Drug Abuse and Environmental Health Sciences.

"The International Collaborative Genetics Research Training Program will help reduce health disparities between developed and developing countries through the use of genetic sciences," said FIC director Dr. Gerald T. Keusch. "Through the program's partnerships, we will advance human genetics research while enhancing the limited but growing technical capacity in genetic science in developing regions of the world."

The projects will provide educational opportunities at the master's, doctoral and post-doctoral levels and will contribute to the capacity of developing country scientists and institutions to conduct human genetics research relevant to the health needs of developing countries. Scientists and health professionals from low- and middle-income countries were consulted at all stages of the program's development.

Keusch noted, "Our consultation with scientists from the developing world was crucial in helping us understand where the needs are most critical as we consider the nexus between genetic technology and public health."

FIC led the development of the program as part of its ongoing approach to supporting and promoting partnerships among research institutions in developed and developing countries.

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Campus Notes