About the Center for Drug & Alcohol Programs

Research training in alcohol abuse has been ongoing since 1987 when an Institutional Training grant from the NIAAA was awarded. A second training grant funded by NIDA was awarded in 1991. The Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs and the Department of Neurosciences offer comprehensive federally funded basic and clinical science training in alcohol and substance abuse research. Institutional training grants from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) supply stipends and research funds for both pre-doctoral (through the Neuroscience graduate program) and post-doctoral fellows. The training faculty hold appointments in the Department Neurosciences and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences.

The purpose of training is to produce scientists capable of conducting independent basic and/or clinical alcohol and substance abuse research. Emphasis is placed on the development of research skills, including grant writing and subsequent communication of research results at national meetings and in professional journals.

Upon entry into the program, trainees are integrated into their mentor’s research program. All faculty mentors have active, NIH-funded research so that trainees are exposed to state-of-the-art research techniques and ideas. While working with the mentor, each trainee is expected to generate an abstract for presentation at a national meeting and to submit one manuscript a year for publication in a peer-reviewed journal.

2006-2007 Faculty Mentors and Their Research Interests
(to contact an individual faculty member, click on their name)

Raymond F. Anton, M.D. 
Alcohol Medications/Diagnostic Predictors

Gary Aston-Jones, Ph.D. 
Neurobiology of Attention, Affect, Motivation, and Reward

Howard C. Becker, Ph.D. 
Mechanisms of Chronic Alcohol Neuroadaptation

Kathleen T. Brady, M.D., Ph.D. 
Pharmacotherapy/Comorbidity

L. Judson Chandler, Ph.D. 
Effects of Ethanol on Glutamatergic Systems

Deborah V. Deas, M.D., M.P.H. 
Adolescent Alcohol and Substance Abuse

Peter W. Kalivas, Ph.D.  
Cellular Basis of Stimulant-Induced Neuroplasticity

Antonieta Lavin, Ph.D. 
Role of Cortico-thalamic Pathway in Drug Addiction

Robert J. Malcolm, M.D. 
Pharmacotherapy of Alcohol and Substance Abuse Disorders

Jacqueline F. McGinty, Ph.D. 
Stimulant Effects on Neurotransmitter Release/Gene Expression

D. Hugh Myrick, M.D.  
Medications in Alcohol and Substance Abuse Treatment; Imaging

M. Foster Olive, Ph.D. 
Neuropharmacology/Neurocircuitry of Addiction

Sammanda Ramamoorthy, Ph.D. 
Monoamine Transporter Structure and Function

Carrie L. Randall, Ph.D. 
Comorbid Disorders, Social Phobia and Alcoholism

Ronald E. See, Ph.D. 
Cue-Reinstatement of Drug Relapse

Lynn M. Veatch, Ph.D. 
Multiple Ethanol Withdrawals and Neuronal Excitability

John J. Woodward, Ph.D. 
Role of Ion Channels in Alcohol and Drug Abuse

The program uses a multidisciplinary faculty within a medical school base to provide clinical and basic science trainees with research experiences in various facets of substance abuse research. The program is unique in that it stresses the sharing of information of basic and clinical research findings. This process is achieved in part because the majority of clinical and basic faculty and fellows are housed in close proximity to one another, thus facilitating daily interactions of scientists.

As a measure of success, every trainee to-date has annually submitted an abstract, prepared either a poster or oral presentation, and presented at the Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA) meeting, the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), or some other alcohol and/or drug-related meeting.

In addition, trainees have also participated in at least one other national meeting related to their specific discipline. All trainees have submitted at least one (often more) manuscript resulting from their training experience for each year of training. Of the fellows trained, 75% now have academic positions at universities that allow them to utilize their postdoctoral training experience either through teaching or research.

Facilities
Center for Drug and Alcohol Programs (CDAP)
CDAP is a research and treatment center which opened in March of 1995 as part of the Institute of Psychiatry. This facility provides state-of-the-art clinical research units and basic science laboratories. This allows the integration of clinical care with clinical and basic research in an effort to determine the mechanisms underlying addiction and to develop the best treatment for the addicted patient.

Charleston Alcohol Research Center (ARC)
Initially funded in December 1995 and renewed in 2000 and 2005, the ARC has greatly enhanced CDAP with a grant from NIAAA establishing a National Alcohol Research Center. This is one of only fourteen national alcohol research centers in the country. The ARC provides support for five major basic science and clinical research initiatives designed to develop and improve new treatments for alcohol abuse and dependence. In addition, the ARC supports pilot research initiatives, an Administrative Core, and a Shared Resources Core. These cores provide pharmacy, intake, statistical and computer support to the ARC.

Clinical Sites
There are presently four clinical training sites available for clinical research and training. These include the CDAP inpatient facility at the Institute of Psychiatry, the nearby Charleston Center (County) Department of Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Services, the Ralph H. Johnson Veterans Affairs Medical Center, and the CDAP community-based outpatient facility.

Basic Science Sites
Fully equipped basic science laboratories are located within CDAP, the Strom Thurmond Biomedical Research Building, and the Department of Neurosciences. The latter two are located across the street from CDAP.

Didactics
The Training program offers strong didactic programs which stress both clinical and basis science aspects of substance abuse. It also provides training in the followingGrant writing
Research design
Statistics
Data presentation
Responsible Conduct of Research
Software utilization is also emphasized (e.g. SPSS, SAS, Excel, Word, PowerPoint, and End Note). There are ongoing Research Seminars, Journal Clubs and a variety of other conferences and workshops offered to the trainees.

Current Trainees
Postdoctoral Fellows (NIAAA Training Grant):
Jared P. Dempsey, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychology), Texas Tech University.  Dr. Dempsey is a first-year postdoctoral student working with Drs. Carrie Randall and Suzanne Thomas. He is conducting an independent research project on physiological reactions to alcohol cues and the intersect of alcohol use disorders and nicotine dependence.  Dr. Dempsey will also be collaborating on several research projects investigating self-medicating behaviors with alcohol and comorbid psychopathology. 

Justin Gass, Ph.D. (Behavioral Neuroscience), University of South Carolina.  Dr. Gass is a second year postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. M. Foster Olive.  Currently, Dr. Gass and Dr. Olive are working on 3 different projects.  They are examining the differential effects of mGluR5 antagonism in the nucleus accumbens core and shell on intravenous alcohol self-administration in rats. Additionally, Dr. Gass looking at the effects of immunoneutralization of beta-endorphin in the nucleus accumbens on intravenous alcohol self-administration. Finally, they are investigating alterations in frontal cortex expression induced by the mGluR5 antagonists MPEP and MTEP.

David Moorman, Ph.D. (Cognitive Neuroscience), University of Pittsburgh.  Dr. Moorman is in his 2nd year as a postdoctoral fellow at MUSC but completed a year at University of Pennsylvania as a postdoc with Dr. Gary Aston-Jones. Dr. Moorman is working with Dr. Aston-Jones on the effects of orexin on the regulation of neuronal activity in the ventral tegmental area.  One main goal of this research is to characterize how this system (the ventral tegmental area, the lateral hypothalamus, and related areas) is altered after chronic access to alcohol and other drugs of abuse such as opiates or psychostimulants.

Patrick Mulholland, Ph.D. **currently supported by an individual NRSA award** (Behavioral Neuroscience & Psychopharmacology), University of Kentucky.  Dr. Mulholland is in his 3rd year as a postdoctoral fellow working with Dr. L. Judson Chandler and Dr. John J. Woodward on a series of experiments examining the role that potassium channels play in modulating homeostatic plasticity and ethanol withdrawal hyperexcitability.  In addition to this work, Dr. Mulholland is also involved in ongoing studies which are aimed at characterizing compartmentalization of signaling pathways with distinct populations of membrane-bound proteins, including NMDA receptors and voltage-gated potassium and calcium channels.

Predoctoral Fellows (NIAAA Training Grant):
Kenny Abernathy, M.S.
Matthew Pava

Application

John J. Woodward, Ph.D.
Director, NIAAA Training Grant
Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Medical University of South Carolina
67 President Street
PO Box 250861
Charleston, SC 29425
phone: 843-792-5225
email: woodward@musc.edu

Jacqueline F. McGinty, Ph.D.
Director, NIDA Training Grant
Department of Neurosciences
Medical University of South Carolina
173 Ashley Avenue
Suite 403
PO Box 250510
Charleston, SC 29425
phone: 843-792-9036
email: mcginty@musc.edu

Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program
The Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program is an ACGME accredited one-year clinical fellowship program.  This fellowship includes a variety of clinical experiences, didactic series, and supervision involving management of addicted and dually-diagnosed patients.  A number of research opportunities are available.

For more information or to apply, contact:
Himanshu P. Upadhyaya, M.B.B.S., M.S.
Director
Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Program
Medical University of South Carolina
67 President Street
PO Box 250861
Charleston, SC 29425

 More information on Postdoctoral Research Fellowships*

* PDF format . Requires Adobe Acrobat Reader®.