Tenn./UAMS Substance Abuse Researchers Seek Collaboration
| June 20, 2016 │A national epidemic of drug overdoses was plenty of incentive for University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS) and University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC) substance abuse researchers to come together at UAMS looking for ways to strengthen their work through collaboration.
The 30-plus researchers from the Memphis-based university and about 40 UAMS researchers were informed of another incentive for collaborating at the June 8 UAMS/UTHSC Research in Substance Abuse Mini-Symposium: pilot funding to support their work.
Research leaders Steve Goodman, Ph.D., from UTHSC (left) and UAMS’ Lawrence Cornett, Ph.D., established the symposium in hopes of generating collaborative research between the two institutions.
Steve Goodman, Ph.D., UTHSC vice chancellor for research, announced that $100,000 will be available to support up to two collaborative projects ($50,000 each). Called the CORNET (Collaborative Research Network) Awards, the grants will be supported equally by each institution.
As he kicked off the four-hour symposium, Lawrence Cornett, Ph.D., UAMS vice chancellor for research, compared it to a school dance, hoping the institutions’ researchers would use the occasion to “dance.”
“Both of our institutions share some commonalities in research, and we want to build upon those to strengthen our respective programs,” Cornett said. “We also want to find meaningful collaborations that might address this growing problem with substance abuse and addiction in the U.S.”
Drug and alcohol abuse affect all races and ages, and UTHSC’s Alex Dopico, M.D., Ph.D., noted a recent report that overdoses among young white adults, ages 25 to 34, make them the first generation since the Vietnam War to experience higher death rates than the preceding generation.
After hearing overviews of each institution’s substance abuse research programs, the researchers mingled and learned by sharing their work with scientific posters they were displaying.
“I actually saw some dancing going on as the day progressed,” Cornett said at the symposium’s conclusion.
Although too early to measure results, the symposium appears to be working as designed. UAMS’ Cindy Kane, Ph.D., was excited to report that she had found a collaborator, UTHSC’s Kristin Hamre, Ph.D. The two will compete for one of the CORNET Awards to develop
More than 70 researchers from UAMS and UTHSC in Memphis attended the Substance Abuse Mini-Symposium.
preliminary data needed to apply for a larger research grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).
“It was a fantastic symposium,” said Kane, a professor in the College of Medicine Department of Neurobiology and Developmental Sciences who studies the effects of alcohol on the developing brain of fetuses. “It was very insightful and shows a lot of a vision on the part of the two leaders at these schools.”
“It was a great day, everything I hoped it would be,” Goodman said. “What I liked about it is that although there are some overlapping strengths, we’re also complementary to each other.” For example, he said his institution is particularly strong in genomics while UAMS has highly regarded psychiatric research programs.
Cornett said the original idea for the institutions’ collaboration came from Goodman, and their subsequent meetings revealed that cancer research would be another good mini-symposium opportunity. The two hope to have one this fall hosted by UTHSC.