Project Summary: Pilot Component Alcohol use disorders (AUDs) are among the top modifiable factors leading to premature death. Reducing this burden will depend on a combination of changes in regulatory policy, preventive strategies, and treatment strategies aimed at interrupting hazardous drinking and addiction. There creates a critical need to promote the development of new investigators in alcohol research, and attract established investigators from other fields, to further these goals. The Pilot Component identifies promising investigators and provides pilot funding, mentoring, and collaboration with established alcohol investigators, with a goal of helping them accrue preliminary data leading to success in obtaining larger grants. A secondary goal is to explore areas of long- range relevance to the themes of the IARC. The flexibility inherent in a pilot project allows investigators to respond rapidly to unique scientific opportunities as they arise.