Mission and Goals:

The Addictions Research Consortium Affinity Group is set forth to link UCLA’s rich and diverse programs of research and training related to behavioral addictions. These span several departments/divisions at UCLA, namely the School of Medicine (Semel Institute and Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Department of Family Medicine), School of Dentistry, School of Public Health, School of Public Affairs, and College of Letters and Science (Department of Psychology). Addiction science has long struggled to weave together research on molecular genetics, with behavioral studies and clinical trials. Our research efforts in the ongoing programs address addictive disorders at every level of organization, from genetic, molecular, and cellular studies to behavioral assessments in animal models and human subjects, to clinical trials in the laboratory and the community and research on treatment service delivery systems in the U.S. and internationally, and implications for public policy.

The Affinity Group will enhance our ability to coordinate researchers and research that emphasize these various approaches, leading to new opportunities for grant-writing and scientific discovery.  The Affinity Group will also serve three training programs that are supported by the National Institute on Drug Abuse and focus on different aspects of research on addiction:  UCLA Training Program in Translational Neuroscience of Drug Abuse (T32 DA024635, PI: E. London), UCLA Drug Abuse Research Training Center (T32DA007272 PI: R. Rawson), and UCLA Training Program on Addiction Medicine in Primary Care (T32DA026400, PI: S. Shoptaw).

Through the activities of the affinity group, the Addictions Research Consortium will provide a means for scientists, faculty and students throughout the UCLA community to become familiar with the work in the various programs on campus and in satellite sites, and will provide educational benefit from a symposium that brings together experts from within and outside our research community. We expect that one outcome of the Consortium activities will be an increased number of interdisciplinary and translational research programs as the faculty and students become better informed of the rich diversity and expertise across the Consortium members.

The Addictions Research Consortium Affinity Group will host three seminars/affinity group meetings per year on campus, each hosted by one of the successful addiction research programs/centers (e.g., the Center for Translational Research on Addictions (CTRA), Integrated Substance Abuse Programs (ISAP), the Hatos Center, UCLA Gambling Studies Program). Each of these meetings will include an interactive seminar.  In addition, a full-day symposium on addiction (including drug abuse and alcohol abuse) will be held each year to highlight leading-edge topics and issues in addictions research. The symposium will also include a poster session that will provide a forum for trainees from the three UCLA T32 training programs and other new or early stage investigators to showcase their emerging work. Together, these events will enhance the communication amongst UCLA scientists and students, leading to new collaborations and opportunities for ground-breaking translational research on addictive disorders.

· Affinity Group Summary
· Affinity Group Participants
· How to Join

Links to Addiction-Related Sites can be found on the Integrated Substance Abuse Program (ISAP) homepage http://www.uclaisap.org.
From this site there are links to treatment sites, training opportunities, and researcher’s profiles.

On the ISAP home page, clicking the “Links” icon will provide additional website links for education, research, and government sites, NIDA centers, professional associations, treatment services and treatment research. (Click here to be directed to the Links web page.)