For over two decades, investigators at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) have made significant contributions to our understanding of drugs of abuse. The interests of these researchers encompass drug synthesis and pharmacokinetic, neurochemical, neurochemical, molecular, behavioral and pharmacological characterization of most classes of abused drugs. While there have always been active collaborations among some of these investigators, the drug abuse research effort at VCU has been enhanced by the creation of the NIDA Center on Drug Abuse Research. The primary objective of the Center is to foster interdisciplinary research on drug abuse at VCU. The Center will continue to provide a mechanism for bringing together scientists from many different disciplines who have had the role for all drug abuse grants at VCU, which includes numerous R01's, NIDA contracts, a training grant, several development of young scientists in drug abuse research. Our success in stimulating collaborative research as well as research projects. The role of the Core is to provide program management and facilitate interaction and cooperation among the participants through its administrative, drug synthesis, shared instrumentation, mouse knock-out facility, and oocyte laboratory. In addition, a Small Grants Program provides a mechanism to attract new drug abuse problems by junior and senior scientists already associated with the Center. Of course, basic research will continue to be the primary focus of the Center. Three Projects are devoted to synthesis of nicotine analogs, pharmacological characterization of nicotine receptor subtypes, and preclinical and clinical studies on nicotine addiction. The remaining six projects address the mechanisms by which cannabinoids produce their acute transduction mechanisms that include both adenylyl cyclase and ion channels, and interactions between the opioid and cannabinoid systems. Finally, the roles of the endogenous nicotine and cannabinoids produce their acute and chronic effects. Efforts are directed toward understanding the nature of ligand-receptor interactions, signal transduction mechanisms that include both adenylyl cyclase and ion channels, and interactions between the opioid and cannabinoid systems. Finally, the roles of the endogenous nicotine and cannabinoid systems in drug dependance, pain perception, convulsions and immune function are being examined in a systematic manner.
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