# Integrative Omics Center for Accelerating Neurobiological Understanding of Opioid Addiction (ICAN)

> **NIH NIH P50** · RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE · 2022 · $2,259,661

## Abstract

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT
 The overarching goal of the Integrative Omics Center for Accelerating Neurobiological Understanding of
Opioid Addiction (ICAN) is to identify biologically actionable drivers of opioid addiction (OA). We will (1)
conduct large-scale integrated multi-omics studies of OA in humans, (2) integrate rodent–human studies to
identify genes and gene networks implicated in OA, and (3) build a publicly available national omics resource
for studying OA. Our cohering principle is that by integrating multiple omics across human and animal model
data we will discover robust drivers of individual variation that predispose opioid users to addiction.
 The omics revolution has delivered many discoveries of such individual variation for complex diseases,
including for nicotine and alcohol phenotypes, but not for OA. We see five fundamental challenges to rapid
progress: (1) limited sample sizes and unaccounted-for phenotypic heterogeneity in genome-wide
association studies (GWAS) of OA; (2) very limited human brain studies of gene dysregulation by OA; (3)
poor translation between human and animal model studies; (4) lack of concurrent integration of multiple
omics; and (5) limited practical access to, and poor harmonization of, OA omics data.
To overcome these challenges, ICAN harnesses four Projects and two Cores:
 Project 1: Electronic Health Record Phenotyping and Genomics of Opioid Addiction
 Project 2: Gene Regulation in the Opioid Dependent Human Brain
 Project 3: Multi-species Approach to Opioid Addiction
 Project 4: Multi-omics Gene Network Identification
 Cores: Administrative Core and Synergy Core
 Across these Projects and Cores, we will (1) conduct the largest GWAS to date (N>100,000 cases)
leveraging Genomic Structural Equation Modeling; (2) examine differential gene regulation across key brain
regions (prefrontal cortex, nucleus accumbens, amygdala) in the largest collection of OA informative
postmortem brains to date (N=641); (3) integrate rodent and human studies using GeneWeaver.org,
polygenic transcriptome risk scores, and variant functionalizing experiments; and (4) apply explainable
artificial intelligence, gene network mapping, and multiple lines-of-evidence integration for gene network
discovery. Each Project is rigorously designed to make novel contributions. However, by integrating the
diversity of ICAN’s science through the cross-fertilization and coordinating efforts of the Cores, we will
leverage the agnostic discovery power of omics and place it within the context of functional neurobiology to
make field-changing breakthroughs and identify actionable targets for development of OA treatments.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10493702
- **Project number:** 1P50DA054071-01A1
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH TRIANGLE INSTITUTE
- **Principal Investigator:** Eric Otto Johnson
- **Activity code:** P50 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2022
- **Award amount:** $2,259,661
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2022-09-15 → 2027-05-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10493702

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10493702, Integrative Omics Center for Accelerating Neurobiological Understanding of Opioid Addiction (ICAN) (1P50DA054071-01A1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10493702. Licensed CC0.

---

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