Transforming treatments for alcohol use disorder with precision medicine  

​

​

 

Harms from alcohol use are affecting all Australians

 

Alcohol use disorders are health conditions that occur due to a complex interplay between our genetics, our environment, and our experiences.

​

They’re common, and they can be debilitating. Regular alcohol consumption has been linked with over 200 diseases and conditions, making it a leading cause of injury, chronic disease and mortality in Australia and the world.

​

Despite policy measures to protect Australians, the harms associated with alcohol consumption are increasing.

​

 

Treatment options need to be expanded 

 

Despite the significant burden of disease from alcohol in Australia, huge delays are common before people seek help, and detoxification followed by rehabilitation is often understood as the only treatment option across the community.

​

In addition, existing medical treatment options are not widely prescribed, and there is limited investment by pharmaceutical companies in exploring new pharmacological approaches.  

 

Over the past 30 years, significant advances in addiction neuroscience, including those listed below, have identified key neural pathways and a host of promising therapeutic targets to treat alcohol use disorders. However, there is currently no national pipeline for testing new and targeted approaches that can transform treatments.

​

 

A multidisciplinary, collaborative approach

 

With crucial support from a National Health and Medical Research Council Synergy Grant, our team of world-leading researchers in pharmacology, neuropsychology, clinical medicine, psychiatry and behavioural psychology have come together to build on recent scientific discoveries to: 

1. Identify the biological mechanisms at play in addiction and relapse through state-of-the-art neurological imaging to better understand the influences of effective treatments

2. Target these brain pathways with effective modern medicines and cutting-edge behavioural techniques that can be tailored to each individual’s experiences and needs

3. Establish the efficacy of these new treatments in clinical trials that examine their impact on individuals’ consumption, craving and brain functions in relation to alcohol.

 

The outcome of our collaborative, multidisciplinary research will be new and targeted medicines and therapies that can effectively treat alcohol use disorder by tailoring treatments to the diversity of individual experiences.