Danny G. Winder, PhD
Danny G. Winder, PhD, the Worcester Foundation for Biomedical Research Chair I and chair and professor of neurobiology, is helping lead the launch of the Vanderbilt AUD Research and Education Center, or VAREC, at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine.
Winder is the scientific director of the VAREC and is overseeing one of the center’s four research projects in the new education and research building at UMass Chan Medical School. The project is a collaborative research effort on three campuses, including Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, the University of Nebraska Medical Center and UMass Chan.
“The VAREC project is focusing on iterating between human brain imaging in individuals with alcohol use disorder in abstinence and animal model work exploring identified brain circuits for translational potential. We aim to shape the conversation around alcohol use disorder at a global level as a heterogeneous disorder by developing therapeutics for specific components and populations, rather than a broader view approach,” Dr. Winder said.
Winder is a co-principal investigator on the project with Erin Calipari, PhD, associate professor of pharmacology and molecular physiology & biophysics, director of Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research and assistant director of VAREC; and Jennifer Blackford, PhD, director of research at the Munroe-Meyer Institute, Hattie B. Munroe Professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center and VAREC associate director. Cody Siciliano, PhD, assistant professor of pharmacology at Vanderbilt, leads the translational pharmaceutical research efforts of the center, and directs the research core.
“We aim to shape the conversation around alcohol use disorder at a global level as a heterogeneous disorder . . .”
Winder’s research project at UMass Chan for the new center includes working on the manipulation of specific circuits identified in human imaging studies to explore their roles and specific aspects of behaviors relevant to alcohol use disorder, and to explore those circuits in more detail in animal models.
“By focusing on precise circuits within the brain that control specific aspects of alcohol-associated behavior, we can understand exactly how repeated alcohol use changes the brain,” Dr. Calipari said. “Understanding these aspects of the disorder can lead to developing more targeted treatment strategies to ease symptoms of the disorder and improve treatment outcomes in individuals who are suffering.”
The Vanderbilt research team’s projects include using animal models to study changes in negative reinforcement-based behavior, a key driver in alcohol use disorder; and a translational project exploring kappa opioid receptors and their therapeutic potential with alcohol use disorder. Dr. Blackford’s lab at University of Nebraska Medical Center is working closely with Winder’s lab at UMass Chan, comparing analyses of animal model work in models of alcohol use disorder and human studies exploring dimensions of the activity of brain circuit and individuals who are in abstinence from alcohol use disorder.
Winder joined UMass Chan in 2023 from the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, where he served as the Bixler-Johnson-Mayes Chair in Basic Sciences, and professor of molecular physiology & biophysics, pharmacology and psychiatry. He is an expert in the field of addiction neuroscience and founding director of the Vanderbilt Center for Addiction Research.
“I'm excited for our ability to grow the reach of the VAREC, moving some of those activities up here to UMass Chan. I think that there is great potential to grow the base of alcohol use disorder and addiction research on campus and we look forward to growing more in the future,” Winder said.
The VAREC is funded in part by a five-year, $8.9 million grant from the National Institutes of Health.
