Addiction Neuroscience Group

In Australia alone, alcohol hospitalises 230 people per day and kills an estimated 1765 people annually. Smoking causes approximately 66 deaths per day. These deaths are largely preventable and demonstrate the urgent need for improved therapeutic strategies. While behavioural intervention will be part of the remedy, these afflictions are neurochemical in their origins and, if properly understood, should respond to appropriate neuropharmacological interventions. Our innovative program of research directly addresses these problems with robust animal models, best-practice research pipelines, key strategic collaborations, and clinical and pharmaceutical partners.

We study how alcohol and other drugs change the brain’s chemistry, structure and function. Our research into the motivation to seek and consume alcohol has identified circuits, neurotransmitters and novel drug targets, with significant knowledge gained around mechanisms that underpin relapse – a major issue for treatment success. For example, we were the first to demonstrate that the orexin system was critically involved in relapse to alcohol-seeking. Over the last 20 years we’ve shown that orexin is a pivotal driver of alcohol-seeking, even after prolonged abstinence and identified brain nuclei where this effect is mediated. We also designed the world’s first double-blind placebo-controlled trial of Belsomra® (suvorexant; a drug that targets the orexin system) for treating alcohol use disorder (AUD).

We continue to unravel the circuitry and brain chemistry involved in alcohol-seeking. Using a validated back-translation approach we identified muscarinic M4 receptors as a novel therapeutic target for AUD. This is now being tested clinically using Cobenfy® with collaborators in Denmark. More recently, we identified an ion channel that appears to play key roles in both controlling intake and the somatic signs of withdrawal following dependence. We are continuing these lines of enquiry, along with other projects listed below, and research in collaboration with the Hormones and Behaviour Group.