Research | Research Training | Stress, Self-Control and Addiction: Interdisciplinary Research and Education

Stress, Self-Control and Addiction: Interdisciplinary Research and Education (NIDA R25)

Mission

This R25 serves as the research and educational structure for the Interdisciplinary Research Consortium on Stress, Self-Control and Addiction (IRCSSA) which unites the interdisciplinary projects for over 50 leading scientists with expertise in the interplay of stress, self-control and addictive behaviors.

The goals of the R25 component of the IRCSSA are to develop and implement educational programs and initiatives that

  • foster and enhance the process of conducting team science and
  • produce outcomes which advance a new interdisciplinary conceptualization of how stress decreases self-control and leads to addictive behaviors.

These goals are accomplished by developing and implementing:

  • theme-based interdisciplinary Work Groups that integrate research strategies across the consortium
  • a Core Seminar Series and Inter-Laboratory Faculty and Postdoctoral Training Programs that facilitate scientific interaction and training in new disciplines
  • mentoring programs and institutional review processes that overcome obstacles to career development in interdisciplinary team science, and
  • training and dissemination strategies that guide IRCSSA scientists in the rapid translation of research findings to the community and to those developing public policy.
The R25 interacts with all projects within the consortium, and uses an empirically-derived model of team science. The objectives of the R25 are to advance interdisciplinary interaction and education with regard to the interplay of stress, self-control and addiction, to expand emerging educational and academic processes that recognize and foster team science, and to facilitate the translation of new findings into practice and policy with the goal of reducing the significant morbidity and mortality associated with the target addictive behaviors of smoking, drinking and overeating.

Research Portfolio

Project 1:Interdisciplinary research on stress, self-control & addiction

  • Rajita Sinha, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry and Child Study Center, Director, Yale Stress Center
  • Jacob Kraemer Tebes, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, Child Study Center, and Epidemiology & Public Health (Consortium Evaluation)

Project 2:Ionic and second messenger basis of stress induced prefrontal cortex dysfunction

Project 3:Stress-induced compulsive behaviors: CRF regulation

Project 4:Stress, prefrontal cortex, and decision making

Project 5:Role of endocannabinoid signaling in stress-coping behavior

  • Daniele Piomelli, PhD, Professor of Pharmacology, School of Medicine, UC Irvine

Project 6:Stress, neurodevelopment and the emergence of addictive behaviors in adolescence

  • Hilary Blumberg, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Diagnostic Radiology and the Child Study Center, Director, Mood Disorders Research Program
  • Linda Mayes, MD, Arnold Gesell Professor of Child Psychiatry, Pediatrics and Psychology, Child Study Center

Project 7:fMRI of stress & self-control in smoking & obesity

  • Marc Potenza, MD, PhD, Associate professor of Psychiatry, Director, Problem Gambling Clinic, Director, Women and Addictive Disorders Core, Women's Health Research at Yale

Project 8:Norepinephrine transporter imaging in alcohol dependence and obesity

  • Alexander Neumeister, MD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Director, Molecular Imaging Program of the Clinical Neuroscience Division

Project 9:Modeling stress-precipitated smoking lapse for medication development

  • Sherry McKee, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Director, Yale Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory

Project 10:Breaking addictive behaviors via attention and self control exercises

  • Roy Baumeister, PhD, Francis Eppes Professor of Psychology, Florida State University
  • Dianne Tice, PhD;  Professor of Psychology, Florida State University

Project 11:Types of stressors and their impact on health related addictions: smoking, drinking and BMI

Training Opportunities

Full time faculty or post-docs wishing to obtain training or research partnerships that will facilitate the goals of the consortium.

Please visit http://yalestress.org/ for more information on post-doctoral and faculty inter-laboratory training opportunities.

Interested individuals may contact the Principal Investigators

  • Carolyn M. Mazure, PhD, Professor of Psychiatry & Psychology, Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs, Director, Women’s Health Research at Yale
  • Jacob Kraemer Tebes, PhD, Associate Professor of Psychology, Psychiatry, Child Study Center, and Epidemiology & Public Health