UB reorganizes addictions research to better address current challenges

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The University at Buffalo has reorganized its Research Institute on Addictions (RIA) to foster a multidisciplinary approach to addressing the crisis of substance use disorders, with an emphasis on combating the opiate addiction epidemic gripping the region and nation.

The new entity will be known as the Clinical and Research Institute on Addictions (CRIA). The CRIA will focus on reducing addiction incidence, improving addictions care and finding new ways to prevent and treat addiction.

RIA scientists and other UB faculty members interested in addictions research will join together as part of CRIA to work on the insidious problem of addiction and to advance the research, education and service mission of the university. This includes faculty from the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Public Health and Health Professions, the School of Social Work, the School of Nursing and the Graduate School of Education.

UB has more than 160 researchers investigating some aspect of addiction, from exploring its basic scientific mechanisms to developing new approaches to patient care. Faculty at UB partner with local and regional organizations to develop guidelines for care, educate care providers and contribute expertise on all aspects of managing, treating and preventing addiction.

“Addressing substance abuse requires that experts in many disciplines come together to share expertise,” says Provost Charles F. Zukoski. “The CRIA brings together UB’s world-class educators, researchers and clinicians to expand our capacity to address addictions broadly and the opioid crisis in particular.”  

Venu Govindaraju, vice president for research and economic development, says the new collaborative model for the CRIA is consistent with other recent UB initiatives designed to strengthen UB’s research enterprise, create innovative educational programs, address pressing societal challenges and increase external grant support.  

The collaborations will lead to new research on the cause and prevention of addiction, new approaches to treating addiction and new academic programs to prepare students for careers in addictions research, care and prevention.

“Ultimately, through this integrated clinical, research and educational approach, UB hopes to develop an effective, regional, systemic response to the opiate, alcohol and other addictions challenges,” Govindaraju says.

As part of the new initiative, CRIA research scientists have joined the Department of Psychiatry and the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, and the Department of Psychology in the College of Arts and Sciences.  

As members of these academic departments, CRIA researchers will collaborate more extensively with other scientists and faculty throughout the university, expanding the university’s focus on addiction research, education and clinical care. Kenneth Leonard, who led the RIA for the past seven years, will serve as director of the CRIA.

“Collectively, UB researchers and faculty represent one of the largest and most outstanding groups of scientists doing research work with regard to addiction,” Leonard says. “This new direction will help improve both the clinical and education components of our addictions work, and we hope this will lead to advances in prevention and treatment of addictions in Western New York.”

The CRIA will continue to operate Addiction Treatment Services, an outpatient clinic providing treatment for individuals with alcohol and substance use disorders. Plans are underway to add a pain management clinic in order to explore potential solutions to the region’s current opiate crisis.

RIA was established in 1970 as the Research Institute on Alcoholism, in affiliation with UB, as a part of the New York State Division of Research of the Department of Mental Hygiene, now known as the Office of Mental Health. Its name was changed to the Research Institute on Addictions in 1992 in response to an expanded focus on other substance use disorders. RIA officially became part of UB in 1999.