Aims

To support the free and open dissemination of research findings and information on alcoholism and alcohol-related problems. To encourage open access to peer-reviewed articles free for all to view.

For full versions of posted research articles readers are encouraged to email requests for "electronic reprints" (text file, PDF files, FAX copies) to the corresponding or lead author, who is highlighted in the posting.

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Saturday, December 20, 2008

Limited Competition: Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) (U10)


This Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) issued by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (NIAAA), National Institutes of Health, is a limited competition FOA soliciting a cooperative agreement (U10) application from investigators currently supported under an existing study, entitled “Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA)” to (i) identify genetic variants that affect the susceptibility to develop alcohol dependence in adult and adolescent populations, (ii) determine molecular and functional mechanisms of these variants, (iii) identify and characterize gene x gene and gene x environment interactions leading to alcoholism, (iv) develop and refine phenotypes that will facilitate genetic analysis. (v) perform prospective studies of COGA probands.


The Collaborative Study of the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA) is a joint multi-disciplinary project that has been supported by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) since 1989 and more recently also by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). It seeks to identify the role of genes in susceptibility to (or protection from) developing alcohol dependence and related phenotypes. The ultimate goal is to understand the functional effects of variation at genes identified in these studies, including effects on expression, at the molecular and cellular level. Investigators with complementary expertise in molecular and cellular biology, neurophysiology, and psychiatry have collaborated over the years to identify genes in which nucleotide sequence variation affects the risk for alcoholism and related disorders. This approach was built on linkage and association studies in severely affected individuals within families. COGA collected data from more than 300 extended families consisting of more than 3,000 individuals. This dataset is a rich resource for alcohol researchers and for investigators interested in determining the genetic basis of other complex disorders that frequently influence the development of alcoholism, such as anxiety and major depression. The COGA dataset has also served the larger research community as a resource for examining functionally-based endophenotypes and in testing new analytical approaches



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