Vulnerability to cocaine use: discovering common mechanisms conserved across animal phyla

据估计，澳大利亚每年因药物滥用而损失200亿美元，迫切需要进行研究以了解药物如何导致长期行为功能障碍。我们的研究将确定药物滥用和成瘾的基础细胞机制，这可能是预防和治疗成瘾的最佳靶点。我们的研究结果也与澳大利亚正在增加的其他与药物滥用有关的神经精神疾病（例如抑郁症，焦虑症）有关。我们的工作将提高澳大利亚在神经科学研究方面的声誉，并将为学生提供神经药理学和分子神经生物学方面的培训。

Drug abuse costs Australia an estimated $ 20 billion each year, and research is urgently needed to understand how drugs cause long-term behavioural dysfunction. Our research will identify the basal cellular mechanisms underlying drug abuse and addiction, which are likely to be the best targets for therapies to prevent and cure addiction. Our findings are also relevant to other neuropsychiatric disorders related to drug abuse (e.g. depression, anxiety) that are on the increase in Australia. Our work will enhance Australia's reputation for neuroscience research, and will provide training for students in neuropharmacology and molecular neurobiology.