Research

The Shirley and Stefan Hatos Center is home to the NIDA-supported UCLA Opioid Research Center which investigates opioid systems at the molecular, cellular and behavioral levels. Although the collaborative research of the Center is primarily concerned with the action of opioids, individual faculty have research programs investigating:

• Serotonin neurotransmitter system modulates complex behaviors (Anne Andrews)
• Brain imaging and treatment studies of addiction to nicotine (Arthur Brody)
• Regulation of the immune system (Christopher Evans)
• Constitutive activity of opioid receptors (Brigitte Kieffer)
• Neurotransmitter transporters (David Krantz)
• Action of psychostimulants (Nigel Maidment)
• Clinical neuroscience of alcoholism (Lara Ray)
• Intersection between pain and addiction (Catherine Cahill)
• Optogenetic and neuroanatomical tool development for addiction neuroscience (Patrick O'Neill)