CNIDA

Center for the Neurobiological Investigation of Drug Abuse

What causes people to crave drugs? What makes certain people more susceptible to becoming addicted to drugs than others? How does the brain change during drug abuse? Dependence? Withdrawal? What are the biological mechanisms of addiction? These questions and many more are currently being addressed by the investigators of the Center for the Neurobiological Investigation of Drug Abuse (CNIDA) at the Wake Forest School of Medicine.

The purpose of the Center is to provide a research environment that allows investigators with major interests in substance abuse to work together on joint research projects that utilize the broad research expertise of each individual. The internationally recognized faculty with research, training and service interests related to the actions of drugs of abuse on the brain and the biological basis of drug addiction, are the essence of this Center.

Research

The overall research goal of the Center is to provide an understanding of the neurobiology of drug abuse. This research has two principal objectives. First, effective treatment of drug abuse will require a thorough understanding of the brain mechanisms that mediate addiction, and the Center has developed a number of model systems which can contribute to this effort. Second, the study of drugs of abuse as powerful reinforcing agents represent important neurobiological tools, and this research can provide important information about normal and addicted brain function. The research component of the Center consists of individual projects, as well as scientific and administrative cores. These components provide state-of-the-art research which ranges from molecular biology, chemistry, neuropharmacology, neurochemistry, electrophysiology, to behavioral studies of drugs actions on various parameters of brain function. A complete understanding of the abuse potential of any drug requires collaborative efforts by investigators from a number of different but interrelated disciplines. The group of investigators participating in the Center have an aggressive research program focused on understanding the basic mechanisms of substance abuse. This knowledge will provide the framework for the development of more effective treatment strategies. Much of the current research of the Center focuses on the actions of cocaine, opioids and marijuana.

Image Training

Training in neurobiological methods and their application to the investigation of drug abuse is provided by the faculty of the Center at both the graduate and postdoctoral levels. This training is supported by individual research grants and a Training Program funded by NIDA which are the source of stipends for pre- and postdoctoral fellows. The Center provides research laboratories and pertinent research projects in which to train, as well as encourage, these individuals to form career interests in scientific issues concerned with substance abuse. Other training activities include a substance abuse seminar series and journal club meetings which provides opportunities for graduate students, medical students, postdoctoral fellows, residents, nurses, other health care professionals and faculty to become informed on the current status of developments in this field.

Image Service

The Center serves as an information resource to both the lay and scientific community on issues concerning the biological and behavioral aspects of substance abuse as well as a scientific reference for treatment and prevention programs focused on decreasing substance abuse within the community. CNIDA promotes and provides for an exchange of information between researchers and individuals in the local community, whose concerns address substance abuse related issues. There is a growing need for prevention and treatment programs that address comprehensive aspects of drug addiction and the Center's formal outreach program helps to meet this need. Many of the faculty provide the community with important information about drugs and their effect on the brain through written materials, speaking engagements and tutorials.

History

The Center for the Neurobiological Investigation of Drug Abuse was established in 1991 with the funding of the Center grant by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to conduct research into the neurobiological basis of drug abuse. Much of the Center is located within the Department of Physiology and Pharmacology of the Wake Forest School of Medicine. Seventeen faculty, seven postdoctoral fellows and eight graduate students participate in the research being conducted by the Center.

Since its inception, several important discoveries have been reported by CNIDA. These include:

• Development of a number of unique cocaine analogs to study biogenic amine transporters, including some of the most potent blockers of dopamine transport ever reported.
• Demonstration that a novel cocaine analog, PTT, can decrease cocaine self-administration.
• Identification of specific neuronal circuits which are activated by cocaine self-administration, including neurons that are activated in anticipation of cocaine.
• Finding that specific brain lesions reduce cocaine self-administration in rats.
• Development of novel methodologies to determine effects of drugs of abuse on expression of specific genes in brain.
• Demonstration that chronic cocaine treatment produces changes in dopamine transporters in brain.

Structure

CNIDA provides a comprehensive multi-disciplinary approach to drug abuse research at the Wake Forest School of Medicine. CNIDA is divided into components which provide state-of-the-art research. There are three cores and eight research projects within the Center. The cores are composed of an administrative component, an animal core and a chemistry core. The overall objective of the cores is to coordinate and permit collaborative research and training to occur in important areas of drug abuse in the most efficient manner. The Center provides a flexible but selective approach to emergent research issues in the form of identified projects, each having relevance to current issues in drug abuse. The Projects focus on developments within the Center and associated research programs of the investigators. The Center also provides the environment and resources necessary to permit up-to-date technology in the field of neurobiology to be directed toward issues of major interest to the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Focusing the combined expertise of the Center on targeted NIDA concerns permits rapid exploration of how specific drugs affect the brain and produce addiction.

For more information contact:

Lucy Fasano
Center for the Neurobiological Investigation of Drug Abuse
Dept. of Physiology and Pharmacology
Wake Forest School of Medicine
Medical Center Boulevard
Winston-Salem, NC  27157
Phone:  336-716-8627  Fax:  336-716-8501