# Unraveling epigenetic mechanisms of opioid addiction susceptibility using multigenerational animal models

> **NIH NIH DP1** · TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH · 2020 · $60,922

## Abstract

Project Summary/Abstract
Drug addiction is a massive public health concern that inflicts extensive burdens on our
economy and society. The harmful consequences of drug abuse extend far beyond the addicts
and gravely impact their families. A growing body of evidence suggests that the children of
fathers who consumed drugs around the time of conception show altered brain function and
behavioral abnormalities. Using a highly translational paradigm of paternal opioid drug taking,
this projects aims to identify biomarkers and mechanisms predictive of addiction susceptibility.
The focus of the proposed studies will be changes in gene expression and behavior produced
by paternal opioid exposure that emerge during adolescence in first generation progeny and are
predictive of higher addiction-like traits in adulthood. This multifaceted project will combine
behavioral and molecular biological approaches to identify functionally relevant mechanisms
during puberty that confer a higher propensity to develop addiction later in life. Overall, this
research will establish a strategy to delineate functional mechanisms associated with addiction
susceptibility and develop a platform to study how environmental insults can shape and affect
the likelihood of individuals to develop psychiatric diseases.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10161360
- **Project number:** 3DP1DA046537-03S1
- **Recipient organization:** TEMPLE UNIV OF THE COMMONWEALTH
- **Principal Investigator:** Mathieu Wimmer
- **Activity code:** DP1 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $60,922
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 2018-07-15 → 2023-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10161360

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10161360, Unraveling epigenetic mechanisms of opioid addiction susceptibility using multigenerational animal models (3DP1DA046537-03S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-26 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10161360. Licensed CC0.

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