# Research Project 1: Neuroimmune Mechanisms, Addictive Behaviors, and Cardiometabolic Health among African American Emerging Adults: A Prospective Study

> **NIH NIH P50** · UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA · 2020 · $293,333

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY: Research Project 1
The University of Georgia’s (UGA) Center for Translational and Prevention Science (CTAPS; P20 MH068666,
P30 DA027827) has been funded continuously since 2003 to advance next-generation basic and preventive
investigations of risk, resilience, and drug use among African American young people living in resource poor
communities. The CTAPS P50 proposal is based on the hypothesis that progress in the prevention of drug
abuse and cardiometabolic disease among African Americans requires consideration of the processes through
which chronic, multigenerational poverty and social adversity become embedded in biological and behavioral
systems in ways that confer heightened vulnerability to addictive behaviors. Conceptually, the Center’s
research program is grounded in a neuroimmune network (NIN) model authored by Center scientists that
highlights bidirectional signaling between the brain and immune system in the pathophysiology of addictive
behaviors. The NIN model proposes that chronic stressors amplify crosstalk between peripheral inflammation
and neural circuitries subserving emotion generation and regulation. This crosstalk results in chronic low-grade
inflammation, which upon accessing the brain, accentuates threat processing in cortico-amygdala circuity,
attenuates reward processing in cortico-striatal circuity, and dampens prefrontal executive control. NIN
dysregulation is hypothesized to predispose individuals to substance misuse and high fat diets, in part, to self-
medicate the negative emotions associated with disrupted neural signaling. These behaviors generate
additional inflammation, as well as neuroadaptive changes in reward circuitry, further elevating risk for
substance misuse. In Research Project (RP) 1, we propose one of the first prospective studies to test NIN
predictions from a sample of 225 African American youth. Participants will be ages 18-19 at study enrollment, a
period of time in which substance use and unhealthy eating rapidly escalate among African Americans. At
Time 1 (T1) and T2 (2.5 years later), participants will complete a blood draw to quantify low-grade
inflammation, fMRI scanning of threat-, reward-, and executive control neural activity, and assessments of
stress exposure, addictive behaviors, and cardiometabolic risk. RP1 integrates research on multiple organ
systems (i.e., brain and immune system) to advance the science of risk and resilience for addictive behaviors
and their cardiometabolic health consequences, especially among low income African American communities
and other US populations exposed to chronic stress.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10023724
- **Project number:** 1P50DA051361-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF GEORGIA
- **Principal Investigator:** ROBIN NUSSLOCK
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $293,333
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2020-09-01 → 2025-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10023724

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10023724, Research Project 1: Neuroimmune Mechanisms, Addictive Behaviors, and Cardiometabolic Health among African American Emerging Adults: A Prospective Study (1P50DA051361-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10023724. Licensed CC0.

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