We aim to translate discoveries in addiction neuroscience research into advances applicable to clinical treatment.
Leading the Fight Against Addiction
Welcome to ICAN
Over a billion individuals have substance use disorders across the world. The Irvine Center for Addiction Neuroscience (ICAN) creates an environment that will enhance the education of students (undergraduate and graduate) and postdoctoral trainees, as well as attract philanthropic activity through public awareness and outreach programs both local and beyond. The impact is transformative in fertilizing addiction neuroscience research and collaborations incorporating genetic, epigenetic, systems/circuits, and clinical approaches, as well as patient care/outreach.
Members
ICAN Members are made up of from members of the UCI School of Biological Sciences and School of Medicine. This includes faculty, postdocs, graduate students, undergraduate students and affiliates in the community.
T32 Training Program
The training program in substance use and use disorders provides UCI graduate students and postdoctoral fellows with comprehensive, highly interdisciplinary training that includes the neurobiology of addiction, scientific writing and more.
News and Events
Find news, events and more related to addiction, faculty and research conducted by ICAN members and affiliates. Do you have addiction research or event news you'd like to submit for review? Please contact us here. We'd love to hear about it.
What gene changes and blood could tell us about the opioid crisis
The role of gene alterations resulting from childhood adversity in adults addicted to heroin and a search for blood tests to predict addiction vulnerability are part of sweeping research that scientists are launching at the University of California, Irvine.
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My Journey in Becoming an Addiction Scientist | Shahrdad Lotfipour | TEDxUCIrvine
Dr. Shahrdad Lotfipour, shares his…
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Dr. Fowler – SfN’s Podcast Series
Associate Professor Christie Fowler discusses potential biases in experimentation and data interpretation in a new podcast from the Society for Neuroscience’s Foundations of Rigorous Neuroscience Research program. Hear how Professor Fowler and other neuroscientists minimize bias in their research!
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Cannabis More Potently Impacts the Brains of Adolescent Females than Adolescent Males
In his new study, Professor Mahler and his team utilized a translationally-relevant rat model to investigate THC effects in adolescents of both sexes. They conducted a systematic investigation of THC metabolism and distribution in the brain and blood, and characterized its effects on behavior and activity of brain reward and stress neural networks.
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UCI Center for Addiction Neuroscience
The UC Irvine Center for Addiction Neuroscience (ICAN) was established to bring together addiction research faculty from across UCI for the first time, to identify areas of collaboration to leverage for highly competitive research funding opportunities. In addition to advancing the national and international footprint of UCI’s substance abuse and dependence research, ICAN seeks to: enhance the education of students (undergraduate and graduate) and postdoctoral trainees in the field of addiction research, increase public awareness on matters of addiction through specialized outreach programs, develop patient care/outreach initiatives, and attract additional philanthropic support to enhance research discoveries at UCI.
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