VCU Professor Awarded NIH Education Grant to Train Researchers and Develop New Statistical Tools to Study Genetics of Substance Abuse

By Sathya Achia Abraham

A Virginia Commonwealth University researcher has received a National Institute on Drug Abuse education grant totaling more than $2 million to train the next generation of researchers studying the underlying causes of substance use behavior.

The five-year grant will bring together predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows from multiple academic backgrounds to develop and apply statistical genetic methods that can be used to analyze data on substance use, abuse and dependence. They will test hypotheses about the risk for substance abuse. These new methods will then be put into practice with the goal of preventing addiction and improving its treatment.

Scientists and researchers require statistical methods implemented in computer programs to identify genetic and environmental factors that influence risk for the misuse of drugs. There currently is a shortage of individuals qualified to analyze the very large amounts of data being generated by genetic studies.

“We aim to make the most of the new data being collected by developing novel statistical methods and applying them to uncover complex genetic and environmental pathways that lead to serious substance abuse and addiction," said principal investigator Michael Neale, Ph.D., professor in the departments of Psychiatry and Human and Molecular Genetics.

“We are very fortunate that substance use research at VCU is very broad and deep, spanning multiple departments and institutes,” he said. “The university provides an ideal environment for participants in the research education program to obtain a well-rounded education in this area.”

Neale, who is the associate director of the Virginia Institute for Psychiatric and Behavioral Genetics at VCU, studies the nature and causes of substance abuse disorders and how genetics and environmental factors may lead some people to drug use.