$7M NIH Grant Fuels Downstate Alcoholism and Genetics Study

By Office of the President | Sep 17, 2024

Congratulations to the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science, which received notification of a $7M grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to continue one of the longest-running research projects in NIH history—The Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA).

Bernice Porjesz, Ph.D., Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, directs the project while overseeing the Henri Begleiter Neurodynamics Laboratory. Jacquelyn Meyers, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, collaborates with her, co-leading the ‘Brain Function’ aspect of the study and serving as Co-Director of the lab. Now in its 40th year, SUNY Downstate has led this study.

COGA’s primary goal is to figure out how genetics, brain activity, and social factors influence alcohol addiction, recovery, and relapse throughout a person’s life. The study focuses on large families, many with a history of alcohol use problems. Researchers gather significant information from these families, including their behavior, brain function, and social surroundings, and also analyze their DNA to see how genes might play a role in alcohol addiction. To date, they have collected data from over 17,000 family members.

With more people over 40 now engaging in heavy drinking, it is essential to understand what puts them at risk for alcohol addiction and what helps them recover. In this new phase of the study, researchers focus on this age group to see how alcohol use disorder impacts mental and physical health and even early death.

COGA’s long history and its comprehensive approach—looking at clinical, brain, genetic, and social factors—give researchers a full view of how alcohol addiction develops and how recovery happens. The goal is to gather insights that can improve public health and lead to better treatment options for alcohol addiction.

This grant results from a massive team effort, with contributions from faculty, staff, trainees, and administrators working together to make the program successful. Special thanks to the Henri Begleiter Neurodynamics Laboratory Administrative Director Carlene Haynes, staff member Joyce Alonza, and the scientific team at the Henri Begleiter Neurodynamics Laboratory: Chella Kamarajan, Ph.D., Ashwini Pandey, Ph.D., David B. Chorlian, Gayathri Pandey, Ph.D., Chamion Thomas, Alec Musial, Weipeng Kuang, Sivan Kinreich, Ph.D., Jian Zhang, Ph.D., Peter Barr, Ph.D., Zoe Neale, Ph.D., Chris Chatzinakos, Ph.D., Stacey Saenz de Viteri, Ph.D., Christian Richards, Ph.D., Kristina Horne, Luke Landry, and Arthur Stimus. We also extend appreciation to Downstate Grants Managers Megan Elmdorf and Laurian Bradford.

The grant’s national collaborators also play a vital role, including teams from the University of Connecticut (V. Hesselbrock), Indiana University (HJ. Edenberg, T. Foroud, Y. Liu, MH. Plawecki), Washington University in St. Louis (L. Bierut, A. Agrawal, S. Hartz, J. Rice, K. Bucholz), University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine (S. Kuperman, J. Kramer), University of California at San Diego (M. Schuckit), Rutgers University (D. Dick, J. Tischfield, R. Hart, J. Salvatore), The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and University of Pennsylvania (L. Almasy), Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (A. Goate, P. Slesinger), and Howard University (D. Scott).

The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) supports this national collaboration through the NIH Grant. The award notification is pending.