Project Grant R01AA032802
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded The Ohio State University $474,223 on May 11, 2026, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to elucidate brain region- and cell-specific mechanisms of alcohol-induced developmental neurotoxicity and develop precision interventions targeting neuroprotection. The research addresses fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), which contributes significantly to intellectual disabilities with a prevalence rate of 1-5% in the...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded The Ohio State University $1,390,966 on September 18, 2025, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to conduct a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial testing suvorexant as a novel therapeutic for alcohol use disorder and stress-related drinking. The trial will enroll 250 treatment-seeking individuals with current alcohol use disorder and randomize participants to eight weeks of 10 milligrams nightly...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded The Ohio State University $706,409 under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) on September 1, 2026, to examine the neurobiological mechanisms linking sexual assault victimization to alcohol use disorder risk in college-aged adults. The study will recruit 220 heavy-drinking participants aged 21–29, divided into two groups: those with a history of sexual assault and those without. Researchers will conduct three laboratory...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded The Ohio State University $1,188,981 on September 20, 2025, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to mechanistically characterize JNK2A variants in alcohol-caused heart failure. The research investigates how long-term excessive alcohol consumption drives alcoholic cardiomyopathy through alcohol-activated JNK2 regulation of the SERCA2 calcium pump, moving from adaptive cardiac remodeling to maladaptive suppression of...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded The Ohio State University $226,406 on August 10, 2026, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to investigate pain sensitivity, alcohol-induced analgesia, and heavy drinking in individuals with opioid use disorder. The research addresses a critical gap in understanding mechanisms that drive concurrent alcohol and opioid use, which occurs at rates 13 times higher in individuals with opioid use disorder compared to the...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded Trustees of Tufts College $686,774 on July 20, 2026, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to conduct behavioral neurobiology research on stress, alcohol responsivity, and alcohol drinking patterns. The research uses rodent models to investigate how stress exposure alters sensitivity to alcohol's aversive effects and the neural circuits involved. The study employs classical and operant conditioning paradigms combined with...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded The Washington University $555,331 on August 13, 2026, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to examine the metabolic-epigenetic regulation of alcohol intake and associated molecular mechanisms. The funded research explores how alcohol-derived acetate generated during alcohol metabolism affects brain histone acetylation and subsequently influences alcohol intake behavior. The project builds on preliminary findings...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded Texas A&M University System Health Science Center $635,002 on June 15, 2026, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to investigate cholinergic modulation of striatal circuits in alcohol use disorder. The project examines how chronic alcohol intake affects acetylcholine signaling in the dorsomedial striatum, focusing on the interaction between direct-pathway medium spiny neurons and cholinergic interneurons. Research...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded Trustees of Boston University $580,556 on May 1, 2026, under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) to investigate the role of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide (PACAP) in heavy alcohol drinking and associated anxiety-like behavior. The recipient will conduct mechanistic research using animal models of heavy alcohol drinking combined with pharmacological, molecular, and viral approaches to test whether the...
- The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded Yale University $100,228 under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) on October 27, 2026, to investigate the neurobiological mechanisms underlying the co-occurrence of alcohol use disorder and post-traumatic stress disorder. The project examines how stress exposure disrupts excitation-inhibition balance in the medial prefrontal cortex, driving increased alcohol consumption and heightened motivation for alcohol use. Using single...
The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism awarded The Ohio State University $1,771,875 under the Alcohol Research Programs (CFDA 93.273) on August 4, 2026, for research into the novel mechanism of nuclear histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) in early-life stress-induced alcohol consumption, preference, and tolerance in offspring. The research develops a mouse model using offspring born to dams that experienced prenatal restraint stress during pregnancy to investigate how early-life stress contributes to alcohol use disorder and related psychiatric conditions. Adult offspring from prenatally stressed dams display excessive ethanol consumption, tolerance, and increased anxiety-like behaviors compared to offspring from non-stressed dams. Preliminary findings indicate that these phenotypes are associated with decreased synaptic molecules—activity-regulated cytoskeleton-associated protein and Homer protein homolog 1—in the medial prefrontal cortex, along with increased protein phosphatase 1A and nuclear accumulation of HDAC4. The research hypothesizes that a dysregulated protein phosphatase 1A–HDAC4–myocyte enhancer factor 2C pathway, which causes synaptic dysfunction, plays a causal role in alcohol use disorder development stemming from early-life stress. Performance occurs in Columbus, Ohio. The period of performance extends from August 4, 2026, through July 31, 2030. This is a Project Grant, the standard assistance type for investigator-initiated research under the Alcohol Research Programs.
Mod # | Description | ReasonForModification | Federal Obligation | Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not listed | $1.8m | 8/6/26 |