November 01, 2012
NIDA has awarded grants to Yale University, the Medical University of South Carolina, and the University of Minnesota to explore sex differences in drug addiction. These three grants are part of the Specialized Centers of Research (SCOR) on Sex Differences program developed and coordinated by NIH’s Office of Research on Women’s Health, which has recently awarded a total of 11 SCORs among NIH Institutes. Each NIDA grant has translational implications for drug abuse medications that take gender into account. Recipients will receive approximately $1,000,000 per year for 5 years to support their research.
The Yale program, led by Dr. Sherry McKee, aims to develop effective smoking cessation treatments for women, who have lower smoking quit rates and greater smoking-related health consequences than men (read Yale’s press release at http://news.yale.edu/2012/07/03/new-nih-funded-yale-center-treat-women-smokers).
The Medical University of South Carolina program, led by Dr. Kathleen Brady, will examine relationships among gender, stress, and craving in cocaine and nicotine use in order to develop potential medications to prevent stress-based cocaine relapse and promote smoking cessation.
The University of Minnesota program, led by Dr. Marilyn Carroll, will focus on the interactions of sex differences, hormonal status (e.g., progesterone levels), and impulsivity with cigarette smoking and cocaine use to improve existing medication treatments for those addictions.
The RFA can be viewed at http://grants1.nih.gov/grants/guide/rfa-files/RFA-OD-11-003.html.
For more information, contact the NIDA press office at media@nida.nih.gov or 301-443-6245.
Contact:
NIDA Press Office
301-443-6245
media@nida.nih.gov
About the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA): NIDA is a component of the National Institutes of Health, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIDA supports most of the world's research on the health aspects of drug abuse and addiction. The Institute carries out a large variety of programs to inform policy and improve practice. Fact sheets on the health effects of drugs of abuse and information on NIDA research and other activities can be found on the NIDA home page at www.drugabuse.gov. To order publications in English or Spanish, call NIDA's new DrugPubs research dissemination center at 1-877-NIDA-NIH or 240-645-0228 (TDD) or fax or email requests to 240-645-0227 or drugpubs@nida.nih.gov. Online ordering is available at drugpubs.drugabuse.gov. NIDA's media guide can be found at www.drugabuse.gov/publications/media-guide, and its new easy-to-read website can be found at www.easyread.drugabuse.gov.
About the National Institutes of Health (NIH): NIH, the nation's medical research agency, includes 27 Institutes and Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. NIH is the primary federal agency conducting and supporting basic, clinical, and translational medical research, and is investigating the causes, treatments, and cures for both common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and its programs, visit www.nih.gov.
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