University of Kentucky's Anel Jaramillo in Lexington, Kentucky Wins Her First NIH R01: Studying the Brain Chemical Pathways Behind Anxiety and Stress in Alcohol
LEXINGTON, Kentucky — The University of Kentucky reported on November 4 that Anel Jaramillo, Ph.D., an assistant professor in its College of Pharmacy, has been awarded her first R01 grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The grant will allow Jaramillo to explore how specific brain chemical pathways drive anxiety and stress during alcohol abstinence, with a special focus on sex-specific differences that could inform the development of new targeted treatments for alcohol use disorder. An R01 signifies that a researcher can compete nationally and manage their own independent research program.
According to the university, the period immediately following alcohol cessation, known as abstinence, often triggers heightened anxiety, restlessness and deep psychological stress, and these emotional states frequently push individuals back toward alcohol consumption, causing relapse. Jaramillo's laboratory focuses on a neuropeptide called pituitary adenylate cyclase-activating peptide, or PACAP: in human clinical studies, genetic variations in the PACAP receptor and altered PACAP levels have been linked to PTSD and problematic drinking in females. Using preclinical models, her team will map how PACAP projections from the parabrachial nucleus to the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis — described by the university as a central "anxiety hub" — alter brain cell communication during abstinence, by evaluating neuronal activity, observing stress responses in real time and using targeted neural inhibition to block PACAP signaling.
The university also set out the sex-differences background: female patients often experience a "telescoping effect," reaching severe alcohol use disorder on an accelerated timeline compared with men, and women in abstinence report higher rates of stress-induced cravings and emotional disturbance. Jon S. Thorson, Ph.D., associate dean of research and chief scientific officer at the College of Pharmacy, said receiving a first R01 is a big milestone and that the work addresses a critical public health need. The research is supported by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism under Award Number R01AA032581 and by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences under Award Number P20GM130456.
来源链接：肯塔基大学发布（uknow.uky.edu）： https://uknow.uky.edu/research/uk-researcher-study-alcohol-abstinence-independent-nih-grant
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Source: University of Kentucky
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 肯塔基大学校园（资料图）。（Wikimedia Commons）|The University of Kentucky campus (file photo). (Wikimedia Commons)
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