Objective
The use of illicit psychoactive drugs such as opioids, cocaine, amphetamines, ecstasy and cannabis remains at high levels. Globally around 15 million people use heroin and the societal cost is high due to lost productivity, criminal activity and medical care. Although there are established risk factors for drug abuse, including urban poverty, mental illness, parental alcohol and drug abuse, there is a strong familial aspect to drug abuse. Family, twin and adoption studies have demonstrated that genetics factors play a major role in the etiology of addictive disorders. Studies in large twin samples suggest that a large contribution to liability of risk of becoming dependent on heroin is due to genetic effects. So far, most of the genetic studies on heroin abuse have tested candidate genes which have been selected on the basis of perceived functional relevance to heroin abuse. Thus, most candidate genes have been those encoding neurotransmitters and neuroreceptors, particularly neuronal systems thought to be critical to heroin addiction, for example, systems modulating the euphoric and dysphoric symptoms. In general, the search for risk genes has produced inconclusive results due to sample issues and the limited number of variants tested. The aim of this proposal it to conduct a focused study of heroin dependence and related phenotypes by overcoming the limitations of previous studies. This will be done in the following ways:
1) Utilize a large, ethnically homogeneous sample to identify risk variant through a cost-effective and efficient Genome-wise Association Study using pooled DNA.
2) Conduct association analysis with heroin dependence as well as related phenotypes
3) Perform allele specific functional studies on the top risk genes identified
4) Use bioinformatics to identify risk pathways
This is the first comprehensive study of heroin dependence and related traits and results from this study will be vital for future studies.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences biological sciences molecular biology molecular genetics
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics DNA
- medical and health sciences health sciences substance abuse
- social sciences economics and business economics production economics productivity
- natural sciences chemical sciences organic chemistry alcohols
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Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
FP7-PEOPLE-2011-IIF
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Coordinator
WC2R 2LS London
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.