# Penn PET Addiction Center of Excellence (Penn PACE)

> **NIH NIH P30** · UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA · 2021 · $1,846,343

## Abstract

OVERALL ABSTRACT
This is a revised application requesting resources to create a NIDA P30 Core Center of Excellence
Program at the University of Pennsylvania focused on studying the neurobiology of opiate use disorders
(OUDs). This new center will focus on Positron Emission Tomography (PET) studies in patients seeking
treatment at the Center for the Studies of Addiction (CSA) at the Perelman School of Medicine. The
University of Pennsylvania has a long history in two key areas that serve as the foundation of this P30
Center of Excellence, the development of novel strategies for the opiate use disorders, and PET imaging
studies of brain function. The name of the proposed center is the Penn PET Addiction Center of
Excellence (Penn PACE), and represents a collaborative effort between the Departments of Radiology
and Psychiatry at Penn. A key addition to this revised application is the inclusion of Yale University in
this P30 Center. The center will initially focus on opioid receptors in opioid sensitivity, addiction, and
suicide, and the role of oxidative stress and neuroinflammation in OUDs. This center takes advantage
of unique resources at both the University of Pennsylvania and Yale University. The PIs of the Center
are Dr. Robert H. Mach, the Britton Chance Professor of Radiology, Dr. Henry Kranzler, the Benjamin
Rush Professor of Psychiatry, and Dr. Caryn Lerman, the John Glick Professor of Psychiatry and Vice
Dean for Strategic Initiatives at Penn. Another key person is Dr. Richard Carson of the Yale University
PET Center; Dr. Carson will lead the research effort at Yale University and direct the data analysis
component of the Imaging Core. He is also the Co-Director of the Imaging Core with Dr. David Mankoff
at Penn. The center consists of an Administrative Core and three research cores: Radiochemistry,
Imaging and Clinical Core. Central to this center is the Pilot Project Core, which consists of a panel of
identified and potential pilot projects by NIDA-funded investigators who use the opportunities provided
by this P30 Core Center of Excellence Program to expand their research programs. We anticipate that
the Penn PACE will lead to a significant advance in our understanding of the neurobiological mechanisms
of opiate use disorders and neuroinflammation in a manner only possible through the combination of
tightly-controlled clinical trials coupled with the unique molecular imaging properties provided by PET.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10201543
- **Project number:** 5P30DA046345-03
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA
- **Principal Investigator:** HENRY RICHARD KRANZLER
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $1,846,343
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2019-08-15 → 2024-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10201543

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10201543, Penn PET Addiction Center of Excellence (Penn PACE) (5P30DA046345-03). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10201543. Licensed CC0.

---

*[NIH grants dataset](/datasets/nih-grants) · CC0 1.0*