The Medical University of South Carolina successfully competed in 1994-95 for an Alcohol Research Center award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. During this initial funding period, basic scientists and clinical researchers with expertise in behavioral neuroscience and pharmacotherapy were assembled as a research team poised to take on the challenge of working together to identify promising new pharmacological treatments for alcoholism and its comorbid disorders.
Subsequently, the Center successfully competed for two additional five years of funding, from 2001 through 2005, and from 2006 through 2010. This funding mechanism has afforded the opportunity to conduct collaborative and interactive research and, more importantly, provided the researchers the infrastructure to facilitate their productivity.
It also provided a source of funding for pilot projects to bring new investigators as well as new technology to the Center. Neuroimaging technology has been introduced to the Center, as has the acoustic startle response, electrophysiology, and molecular biology. The Charleston Alcohol Research Center is well positioned to evaluate promising compounds in animal models, in a human laboratory setting, and in clinical trials.