The Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center (Gallo Center) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) was established in 1980 to study basic neuroscience and the effects of alcohol and drugs of abuse on the brain. Since its inception, the Gallo Center has grown to a staff of over 170 and occupies nearly 88,000 square feet of newly constructed space in Emeryville, California. The Gallo Center has major neuroscience laboratories in cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, pharmacology, neurophysiology, behavioral pharmacology and physiology, and invertebrate, mouse and human genetics.

The Gallo Center hosts weekly teaching conferences, seminars, and research discussion groups. It is an excellent training resource for alcohol and addiction-related research for medical students, postdoctoral fellows, and visiting scientists. The Gallo Center is an independent not-for-profit organization affiliated with the University of California, San Francisco. All Gallo Center faculty hold appointments in departments and interdisciplinary graduate programs at UCSF and most receive grant support from the National Institutes of Health.

The goals of the Gallo Center are:

 ·      To understand the cellular, molecular, and behavioral basis of alcoholism, alcohol abuse, and drug abuse.

 ·      To develop cellular, molecular, and behavioral technologies to identify alcoholics and individuals at risk for developing alcoholism or drug abuse because of genetic vulnerability.