The Challenge

Alcoholism and drug abuse are chronic, progressive, and sometimes fatal diseases, taking a huge toll on health, families, jobs, and ultimately, lives. In addition, the related national economic costs total many billions of dollars a year. Despite the devastating impact these diseases have on society, there are still very few effective medications available to treat them.

The Need

There is an urgent need for the development of effective medications for alcoholism and drug abuse. The Gallo Center is working to answer this need by accelerating the transfer of scientific discoveries from the laboratory into clinical applications.

The Research

The Gallo Center’s multidisciplinary approach to research links genetics, physiology, behavioral studies, and molecular and cell biology in model systems to study the complex problems of alcohol abuse. The Gallo Center is funded primarily through grants from the State of California, the National Institutes of Health, and the Department of Defense.

Faculty/Investigators

Principal investigators at the Gallo Center hold faculty appointments at the University of California, San Francisco. Our investigators publish regularly in leading scientific journals and participate in study sections of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and foundations that fund biomedical research. The Gallo Center’s Staff Research/Associate Investigator Program is designed to encourage promising postdoctoral fellows to pursue their own independent research, with the goal of transitioning to full independence, either at the Gallo Center or elsewhere.