Every four minutes, someone dies from the grip of addiction. But U researchers are developing a groundbreaking new treatment that could loosen addiction’s stranglehold.
The Huntsman Mental Health Institute at the University of Utah has been selected by Wellcome Leap, a global health nonprofit, to create an innovative, noninvasive approach for treating substance use disorders. The interdisciplinary team, led by professor of psychiatry Brian Mickey, will use a novel ultrasound device to modulate brain regions associated with opioid addiction.
“Addictions are driven by dysfunction in deep brain areas that are challenging to access,” explains Mickey. “Our goal is to develop circuit-targeted interventions that can restore healthy neural functioning and break the cycle of addiction.”
The $50 million Untangling Addiction program funds teams working on scalable ways to assess addiction risk, quantify its impacts, and devise new treatments. Mickey’s group—with experts spanning psychiatry, engineering, neuroscience, radiology, and social work—is one of just 14 teams selected to share the funds worldwide.
“Substance use disorder is a significant global health problem, and yet the treatment options are limited,” says Mickey. “This funding will help us validate and generate the data to support the next critical step: an efficacy trial to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.”
The announcement comes amid construction of a new translational research facility focused on brain health and mental illness, notes Huntsman Mental Health Institute CEO Mark Rapaport. “Solving complex mental health issues requires diverse disciplines working together in new ways,” he notes. “There is hope, if we can change trajectories through innovative thinking.”
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