Indiana Alcohol Research Center

The Indiana Alcohol Research Center is an interdisciplinary specialized research center at Indiana University School of Medicine where experts study the behavioral, genetic and central nervous system factors that contribute to alcohol use disorders. The center was established in 1987 by a grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health, which supports research in the etiology, pathogenesis, treatment and prevention of alcoholism.

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The Indiana Alcohol Research Center is an exceptional venue for alcoholism research, working closely with an associated T32 grant that supports graduate students and post-doctoral scientists. The center’s outreach component educates governmental policy makers about the science related to diagnosis and treatment of alcoholism and other substance abuses. Indiana Alcohol Research Center investigators also hold numerous other grants on related topics from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and other agencies.

The Indiana Alcohol Research Center partners with researchers across the globe and has been particularly active in providing selectively bred lines of rats and mice, which differ in alcohol preference. Center investigators have also developed the use of computerized alcohol infusion system (CAIS) for the administration of ethanol to prescribe and maintain blood alcohol concentrations within great experimental precision.

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Gifts will support the Indiana Alcohol Research Center at IU School of Medicine.

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Alcohol treatment is available in-person and through telehealth services and other online options.

The NIAAA provides an alcohol treatment navigator to help adults find telehealth alcohol treatment by health care professionals. Other treatment resources are available through IU School of Medicine clinical partners, including IU Health, Eskenazi Health and Riley Children’s Health.

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Recent News

Tamika Zapolski, PhD, MS, and Zachary Adams, PhD

$4.7 million award to help researchers prevent adolescent alcohol use

Indiana University School of Medicine researchers recently were awarded $4.7 million from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to further the study of caregiver intervention in reducing adolescent alcohol use and other substance use disorders (SUDs).

April 18, 2024

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Researchers discover group of genes that influence pain and brain communication can also influence alcohol use disorder risk

An estimated 16 million people in the United States have alcohol use disorders (AUDs), according to the National Institutes on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA).

July 13, 2023

a woman in a lab coat takes notes as she examines brain imaging

Researchers identify link between alternative gene splicing and risk of alcohol use disorder

Researchers at Indiana University School of Medicine have discovered alternative gene splicing, which occurs during gene expression, can impact a person’s risk of alcohol use disorder (AUD).

May 30, 2023

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Protein that drives the development of alcohol-associated liver disease identified by IU researchers

Alcohol-associated liver disease (ALD), a complex disorder that occurs in some patients who have engaged in excessive alcohol use, is one of the leading causes of chronic liver disease among veterans and liver transplant patients in the United States.

April 18, 2023

binge drinking

IU researchers receive $8.6M NIH grant renewal to study alcohol use, binge drinking

A multi-disciplinary team of Indiana University researchers is focusing their efforts on a growing public health concern: binge and “high-intensity” drinking—extreme drinking behaviors that are increasingly prevalent among college-age adults.

April 05, 2023