The Molecular Basis of Drug Abuse Predoctoral and Postdoctoral Training Program, previously housed in the Department of Pharmacology, now lives in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences under the leadership of Paul Philips, PhD. The fellowship is designed to provide training in molecular and cellular aspects of drug abuse research and has dramatically facilitated the coordination of training and collaboration of research efforts across the UW School of Medicine, bringing strong researchers and research programs together to further the study of the molecular aspects of drug receptor signaling mechanisms and addictive behaviors.

Trainees work closely with investigators at the University of Washington Center for Neurobiology of Addiction, Pain and Emotion (NAPE) who study various actions of drugs of abuse (e.g. opiates, cocaine, amphetamine, cannabis, 3,4-methylenedioxy-methamphetamine (MDMA)). This is a multidisciplinary group working in the departments of Pharmacology, Physiology & Biophysics, Biological Structure, Anesthesiology, Biochemistry, Psychology and Psychiatry. Ongoing research activities within the Center are diverse and include molecular, genetic, biophysical and animal behavioral studies. It is anticipated that the shift to Psychiatry will focus the trainees’ outlook towards translation of their basic work to clinical applications.