Jackson Laboratory lands $255K grant to research drug addiction

Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor has received $255,000 from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to support research into substance use disorder.

The funding has been awarded through DHHS’s National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“The important work being done at the Jackson Laboratory is making great strides to conquer a disease that affects far too many families in Maine and across the country,” U.S. Sens. Susan Collins, R-Maine, and Angus King, I-Maine, said Monday in a joint statement. “We welcome this continued funding to help support JAX’s efforts to understand, prevent, and treat substance use disorders.”

Jackson Lab researchers are leading efforts to advance understanding of the genetic factors involved in individuals’ vulnerability to substance use disorders, using mouse models to investigate the genetics underlying the differences in addictive behaviors. The lab’s work has identified genetic variants associated with addiction susceptibilities, providing vital insight into the biological basis for why some humans are at high risk for addiction, according to Collins and King’s joint news release.

In 2017, overdoses claimed the life of more than one Mainer per day, making this one of the top causes of death in the state. Nationally, there were more than 63,600 drug overdose deaths in 2016.

“Time is of the essence with addiction, and support like this is crucial to advancing much-needed research,” said LuAnn Ballesteros, vice president of external and government affairs at Jackson Lab. “We’re very grateful for the support of Sens. Collins and King and the National Institute on Drug Abuse. This is an important step in propelling our work forward to help Mainers, and people around the world impacted by addiction.”