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Home/About/Office of The President/President's Bulletin/May 23, 2024/Dr. Gayathri Pandey Receives $905K NIH Alcohol Use Disorder Research Grant

Dr. Gayathri Pandey Receives $905K NIH Alcohol Use Disorder Research Grant

By Office of the President | May 23, 2024

Gayathri Pandey, Ph.D.Congratulations to Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences assistant professor Gayathri Pandey, Ph.D., was awarded a prestigious five-year K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award. This $905K grant from the NIH National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) will support her groundbreaking research titled “Interplay of Parenting, Genetics, and Brain Function in Trajectories of Resilience and Risk for Alcohol Use Disorder among High-Risk Adolescents and Young Adults.”

This award will strengthen Dr. Pandey’s training and development in brain function and genetic epidemiology of Alcohol Use Disorder (AUD), alongside health disparities research. Her research program will delve into the intricate relationships between parenting, genetic factors, brain function, and alcohol behaviors from adolescence through young adulthood within a diverse, high-risk population.

Dr. Pandey’s research is particularly significant given that children of parents with AUD are four times more likely to develop the disorder, with 11 million children in the US living with a high family history density of AUD. Utilizing resources from the Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA), Dr. Pandey will examine neurocognitive development and alcohol issues in relation to parenting and genetic factors across adolescence and young adulthood, aiming to uncover pathways to resilience and risk for AUD.

Mentors from the College of Medicine and the School of Public Health, including Bernice Porjesz, Ph.D., Director, and Jacquelyn Meyers, Ph.D., Associate Professor from the Department of Psychiatry and Tracey Wilson, Ph.D., Vice Dean for Faculty Affairs and Research, Distinguished Service Professor from the Department of Community Health Sciences will support the grant. Additionally, Azure Thompson, DrPH, MPH, Assistant Professor of Community Health Sciences will be involved as a collaborator on this award.