Grants

Dr. Kaitlin Bountress and other MPIs awarded R34 through NIH/NIDA

Dr. Kaitlin Bountress and other MPIs awarded R34 through NIH/NIDA

Dr. Kaitlin Bountress, along with other MPIs Drs. Gretchen Neigh, Peter Hamilton, and Mathew Banks, were awarded a R34 through NIH/NIDA R34 (R34DA061267).
This project seeks to establish a multidisciplinary and functionally diverse team and generate preliminary data across-species (i.e., in rat, human data) in order to improve our understanding of behavioral biomarkers and genetic risk factors for neurocognitive behaviors related to substance use disorder risk. The ultimate goal of this line of work is to improve our ...

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VCU Researcher Awarded DOD Grant to Identify Genetic Risk Factors for Persistent Concussion Symptoms and PTSD

VCU Researcher Awarded DOD Grant to Identify Genetic Risk Factors for Persistent Concussion Symptoms and PTSD

Dr. Christina Sheerin, along with other MPIs Dr. Amstadter and Dr. Disner (University of Minnesota) were awarded a 3-year Investigator Initiated grant through the Traumatic Brain Injury and Psychological Health Research Program of the Department of Defense (TP230074).

This project leverages a longitudinal registry study and biorepository of military service members and veterans and seeks to use novel genetic approaches to characterize the genetic architecture and functional consequences of genetic risk on persistent post concussive symptoms, PTSD, and AUD ...

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Dr. Amanda Elswick Gentry Awarded K01 From NIH NIAAA

Dr. Amanda Elswick Gentry Awarded K01 From NIH NIAAA

Dr. Amanda Elswick Gentry, Ph.D. was awarded a K01 from the NIH NIAAA (K01AA031748). A five-year professional and research development award mentored by Dr. Ken Kendler, MD, this project will investigate the interacting genetic and environmental effects contributing to alcohol use disorders with co-morbid major depressive disorder.

This research leverages ten biobank-scale data collections and includes methodological aims for the development of machine learning innovations to predict missing and unmeasured alcohol-related outcomes, as well as specific focus on ...

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VIPBG Faculty Receive Funding to Study AUD and PTSD Through NIAAA R01 Grant

VIPBG Faculty Receive Funding to Study AUD and PTSD Through NIAAA R01 Grant

Drs. Ananda Amstadter (VCU) and Abigail Lott (Emory) were recently funded to study models of comorbidity between alcohol use disorder (AUD) and post traumatic stress disorder (GTP) through a new NIAAA R01 (AA030549). They are joined by Co-Is from VCU (Drs. Sheerin and Bacanu), Emory (Drs. Micholopous, Ressler), SUNY (Dr. Peterson), and University of Windsor (Dr. Rappaport). AUD and PTSD commonly co-occur.

Directional models of comorbidity exist, self-medication ...

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Drs. Elizabeth Prom-Wormley and Hermine Maes Receive Funding for Their Resist! Project

Drs. Elizabeth Prom-Wormley and Hermine Maes Receive Funding for Their Resist! Project

Drs.Elizabeth Prom-Wormley and Hermine Maes recently received funding for their Resist! Project (R01 DA054313). The goal of this project is to index individual resistance to psychoactive substance use (SU) during adolescence and use the indices to identify factors influencing resistance into early middle adulthood, with a special focus on potentially modifiable factors.

We will also use a concept mapping approach to identify novel factors and a genetically-informed study design to account for genetic confounding. This project addresses ...

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CILSE doctoral candidate awarded NIH/NIDA grant

CILSE doctoral candidate awarded NIH/NIDA grant

Daniel Bustamante, a Ph.D. candidate in VCU Integrative Life Sciences doctoral program with a concentration on Behavioral & Statistical Genetics, was awarded a National Institute of Health/National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIH/NIDA) F31 grant.

Bustamante is the Principle Investigator studying the risk for developing posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance abuse disorder (SUD) as a result of traumatic experiences during childhood and early adolescence. The project, titled “Longitudinal neuroimaging and statistical genetics modeling of substance use and trauma-related phenotypes,” will study ...

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Dr. Roberson-Nay Receives $275K NIMH R21 Funded Research Grant

Dr. Roberson-Nay Receives $275K NIMH R21 Funded Research Grant

Roxann Roberson-Nay, Ph.D. received a two year, $275K NIMH R21 grant for her “Quantification and Characterization of Bulk and L1CAM-Enriched Exosomal MicroRNA Cargo in Healthy Young People” research study.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are membrane-bound sacs that transport bioactive materials like proteins, DNA, and RNA. EVs are released from all (or nearly all) tissues into the bloodstream as a normal part of physiology. Because EVs easily cross the blood-brain-barrier, analyzing cell surface markers and biological cargo may enable researchers to ...

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New grant explores ties between alcohol abuse, genetics and romantic relationships

New grant explores ties between alcohol abuse, genetics and romantic relationships

A Virginia Commonwealth University professor has received a roughly $750,000 grant to study the complex interplay between alcohol abuse, romantic relationships and genetic predispositions to alcoholism during emerging adulthood.

Jessica Salvatore, Ph.D., an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology in the College of Humanities and Sciences, was awarded the five-year grant, “Genetics, Romantic Relationships, and Alcohol Misuse in Emerging Adulthood,” from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health.

Salvatore, whose research focuses on how ...

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VCU and partners receive $5.7 million to continue transformative study of clinical depression

VCU and partners receive $5.7 million to continue transformative study of clinical depression

Virginia Commonwealth University is part of an international research team that has received a Wellcome Trust grant totaling more than $5.7 million to uncover the underlying biological processes that cause major depressive disorder. The study, to be conducted by researchers from VCU, the University of Oxford and throughout China, is an extension of a study from the same team that uncovered the first identified risk genes for clinical depression last year.

The design of the five-year study will replicate and extend ...

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Dr. Vladimirov Receives $400K Alcohol Dependence Grant

Dr. Vladimirov Receives $400K Alcohol Dependence Grant

By Elizabeth Long

Vladimir Vladimirov, M.D., Ph.D., was awarded a two-year grant from the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in the amount of $419,375 to study the genome-wide expression patterns of genes and miRNA in the nucleus accumbens and prefrontal cortex from subjects with alcohol dependence (AD) and healthy controls. The award has two main goals: i) identify AD-relevant gene and miRNA networks and ii) detect genetic polymorphisms found to be associated with AD ...

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