of alcoholism treatment
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has renewed a $7 million grant to
Yale School of Medicine to speed research discoveries from the laboratory to
the clinic for individuals at risk for becoming alcoholic, or for patients
who already suffer from alcoholism.
T H I S
“The gap between basic research advances and new clinical insights and
treatments remains a critical obstacle to progress in the field of alcoholism
research,” says the principal investigator, Dr. John Krystal, professor
and deputy chair for research at the Department of Psychiatry and the Veterans
Administration Connecticut Healthcare System. “This mission is the enduring
focus of the Center for Translational Neuroscience of Alcoholism (CTNA) at Yale.”
It was a Yale researcher, E.M. Jellinek, who pioneered the hypothesis that alcoholism
is a medical illness. Over the years, researchers have identified ethanol targets
in the brain and specific genes that are linked to a risk of developing alcoholism.
New imaging tools allow researchers to look at brain chemicals and molecules,
and draw connections between those observations and human behavior.
CTNA scientists are working to better define the biochemical and functional characteristics
of a brain circuit that involves the frontal cortex and the limbic system — regions
responsible for higher cognitive processes and emotion, respectively. They are
studying how disturbances in glutamate and dopamine neurotransmission within
this circuitry contribute to an individual’s vulnerability to per?sistent
heavy drinking and alcohol dependence.
Krystal says members of the community can play a critical role in solving the
urgent problems associated with alcohol dependence by participating in the studies.
CTNA projects are actively seeking healthy individuals with and without family
histories of alcohol problems, heavy social drinkers, heavy drinkers and people
who are alcohol-dependent. For more information, visit http://info.med.yale.edu/ctna/drinkers.html.
W E E K ' SS T O R I E S
Yale, Peru forge ‘model’ collaboration on Machu Picchu
Foster + Partners to design new SOM building
NIH grant aims to speed development of alcoholism treatment
‘Quiet on the set!’: Scenes for DeNiro-Pacino movie shot in employee’s home
ENDOWED PROFESSORSHIPS
Anderson comes to Yale as Lanman Professor
Harries appointed as first Ragen Professor
Nägele is first incumbent of Mohr Professorship
Smith has been named to Wells Professorship
Scholars named to joint posts at MacMillan Center
Abigail Rider to manage Yale’s real estate
Exhibit chronicles slavery and emancipation in Jamaica
Activist and author Gloria Steinem to visit as Chubb Fellow
Art, music of Tibetan monks to be featured in campus events
Architect-designed housewares produced by Swid Powell . . .
Award-winning play about conjoined twins to be presented
Brownell: Food addiction and nutrition
Part one of two-part conference will explore ‘Frontier Cities’
Tribute to Cleanth Brooks examines the topic ‘What is Close Reading?’
Show features paintings of city scenes by Constance LaPalombara
Getting saucy
Look at ‘Past Year in Admissions’ . . .
Campus Notes
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