Stephanie Samples O'Malley PhD
Professor of Psychiatry; Director, Division of Substance Abuse Research in Psychiatry; Assistant Chair, Clinical Research
Research Interests
Medications development; Smoking cessation; Heavy drinking or alcohol dependence treatment; Risk reduction
Current Projects
Clinical trials of varenicline for the treatment of alcohol dependence among smokers and of naltrexone for young adult heavy drinkers
Laboratory studies to evaluate medications for substance use disorders
Validation of biomarkers for monitoring drinking in clinical trials
Secondary analyses to identify moderators and predictors of response to treatments for alcohol dependence using tree based and trajectory analyses
Training of clinician and transdisciplinary scientists
Research Summary
The ultimate goal of our laboratory is to develop more efficacious treatments for alcohol use disorders and nicotine dependence. Toward this end, we are conducting clinical trials to determine efficacy of these medications, and laboratory studies to determine the mechanisms underlying the effects of treatment and the underlying nature of the disorder.
Selected Publications
- DeMartini KS, Palmer RS, Leeman RF, Corbin WR, Toll BA, Fucito LM, O'Malley SS. (2012). Drinking Less and Drinking Smarter: Direct and Indirect Protective Strategies in Young Adults. Psychol Addict Behav. 2012 Oct 22. [Epub ahead of print] PMID: 23088406
- Fucito LM, Park A, Gulliver SB, Mattson ME, Gueorguieva RV, O'Malley SS. (2012). Cigarette smoking predicts differential benefit from naltrexone for alcohol dependence. Biological Psychiatry, 72(10):832-8.PMID: 23088406
- Fucito LM, Toll BA, Wu R, Romano DM, Tek E, O'Malley SS. (2011) A preliminary investigation of varenicline for heavy drinking smokers. Psychopharmacology (Berl). 2011 Jun;215(4):655-63. PMID: 21221531
- O’Malley, S.S., Krishnan-Sarin, S., McKee, S.A., Leeman, R.F., Cooney, N.L., Meandzija, B., Wu, R., Makuch, R.W. (2009). Dose-dependent reduction of hazardous alcohol use in a placebo-controlled trail of naltrexone for smoking cessation. International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology, 12(5): 589-597. PMID: 18796184
- Anton, R.F., O’Malley, S.S., Ciraulo, D.A., et al., for the COMBINE Study Research Group (2006). Combined Pharmacotherapies and Behavioral Interventions for Alcohol Dependence: The COMBINE Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial. Journal of the American Medical Association. 295:2003-2017. PMID: 16670409
- O’Malley, S.S., Krishnan-Sarin, S., Farren, C., Sinha, R., Kreek, M.J. (2002). Naltrexone decreases craving and alcohol self-administration in alcohol dependent subjects and activates the hypothalamo-pituitary-adrenocorticol axis. Psychopharmacology, 160:19-29 PMID: 11862370
