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INROADS INTO ADDICTION

PBS joins IU and the State of Indiana to tackle an epidemic

Shattering lives and unraveling families and communities, addictions and substance use disorders take a deadly toll. In 2016 alone, for example, over 64,000 Americans died from drug overdoses. That’s more than the number of people who died during the nation’s worst year of gun violence, the peak year of the HIV/AIDS epidemic, or during the entire Vietnam War. Annual financial costs of this epidemic are 3.5 times the annual expenditure on diabetes and 2.8 times that of cancer.

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TAKING AIM AT OPIOIDS

Neuroscientists Andrea Hohmann, Ken Mackie and collaborators in their labs recently discovered a compound that, when administered with opioids used to treat chemotherapy-induced pain, prevents both tolerance and physical dependence on opioids in rodents. The drug could reduce the likelihood that chemotherapy patients become addicted to their pain management prescriptions.

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ALUMNUS BESTOWS ENDOWED CHAIR FOR ADDICTIONS RESEARCH

“Nothing would make me happier than to see IU become an international leader in the treatment of a disease that has been so pervasively misunderstood,” explains David H. Naus (B.A. ‘77). And with his $1.5 million gift to establish the Naus Family Chair in Psychological and Brain Sciences, an endowed chair for a researcher in the field of substance use disorders and addiction, he puts such an aspiration that much more in reach.

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Two stories on the life of postdocs at PBS from graduate student, Rachel Skipper

THE POSTDOC PREDICAMENT

Even for the best and brightest researchers, the pressure to conduct cutting-edge research, learn new skills, and navigate the ranks of academia is no easy task.

Postdoctoral trainees do all of this and more, while seeking future employment in an extremely competitive job market. It’s a situation that we’re calling the ‘Postdoc Predicament.’

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SPOTLIGHT ON PBS POSTDOCS

How many postdoctoral fellows would you guess are in our department? 10? 20? The answer may surprise you: there are currently 34 PBS postdocs.

Despite their large numbers and the important work they do to advance PBS research, the postdocs in our department sometimes seem invisible. Hired by individual labs, they interact with other members of their lab, and have few connections to the department or university as a whole.

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