Addictions Research at BU
Boston University is a major center of multidisciplinary research, training and service in addiction treatment, prevention and policy.
This website highlights work being done by BU faculty in the schools of Medicine, Public Health, Social Work, the College of Arts of Sciences, Boston Medical Center, and the Boston VA Healthcare System.
It is also the home for an ongoing series of research seminars that highlight groundbreaking addictions research across the university and the VA.
Addictions and Gender
Marlene Oscar Berman, PhD
Wednesday, April 24, 2013 | 3:30pm
BU School of Medicine
New research with human and nonhuman participants has confirmed that gender differences are manifested differently in the addictions. Leading BUSM and VA investigators will discussNeuroimaging research illuminating gender differences that contribute to the differential impacts of chronic alcoholism on men and women; Sex differences and the effects of ethanol binge drinking during the female estrous cycle; Gender differences in response to cocaine; and Interventions in women’s substance abuse recovery. More details about this event >>
Transdisciplinary Research in Addiction Science
Launch of University-Wide Training Program for Doctoral Students
Video of February 14, 2013 seminar
Richard Myers
Lindsay Farrer
Although much has been learned about the behaviors and biochemical imbalances associated with addictions, research leading to effective treatments has been slow. Addiction researchers using clinical and epidemiological approaches usually do not collaborate with those conducting basic research in cells and animal models because they do not share the same language, skill sets or perspective.
BU geneticists Richard Myers, Lindsay Farrer and other BU faculty presented this seminar about strategies for studying addictions and other complex diseases that integrate population, computational and basic science approaches.
At the end, faculty presenters unveiled a new campuswide, cross-disciplinary training program for BU doctoral students studying addiction science.
More details and video of this event
Featured research
BU Addiction Researchers Focus on the Brain
Finding the key to lasting abstinence for substance abusers is a complex task. Mounting empirical evidence suggests that addiction is a chronic brain disorder,affected by a complicated mixture of biological and environmental factors. At Boston University, researchers are training their sights on how alcohol, tobacco, illicit drugs, and even junk food can alter the brain and how it functions.
