The Center of Alcohol Studies (CAS) is a multidisciplinary research institute located in the

Busch Campus Busch Campus is one of the five sub-campuses at Rutgers University's New Brunswick/Piscataway area campus, and is located entirely within Piscataway, New Jersey, US. Academic facilities and departments centered on this campus are primarily those r ...

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

, which performs clinical and biomedical research on alcohol use and misuse. The center was originally at

Yale University Yale University is a Private university, private research university in New Haven, Connecticut. Established in 1701 as the Collegiate School, it is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Sta ...

and known as the Yale Center of Alcohol Studies, before it moved to Rutgers in 1962. The CAS is also home to the peer-reviewed ''

Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs The ''Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs'' (JSAD) is a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes original research articles on various aspects of the use and misuse of alcohol and other drugs. Topics covered include the biological, medi ...

'' (JSAD), the oldest journal on alcohol studies; and a library of alcohol literature. Early research in the 1940s at the CAS helped support the

disease model of addiction The disease model of addiction describes an addiction as a disease with biological, neurological, genetic, and environmental sources of origin. The traditional medical model of disease requires only that an abnormal condition be present that cause ...

that helped change public perception on alcohol consumption.

History

The CAS was the first research institute dedicated to alcohol studies after the 21st amendment to the U.S. Constitution repealed prohibition in 1933. The center was founded at Yale as a research area in the Applied Physiology department in 1935. E. Morton Jellinek was Director of the Center until the 1950s, and stepped down when he was offered a position at the

World Health Organization The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of ...

. He was replaced by Selden D. Bacon. The Yale Center of Alcohol Studies opened the first Summer School of Alcohol Studies in 1943, and in 1944 opened a free clinic devoted to treating alcoholism. The Summer School still continues every year. The CAS at Yale funded the early years of the National Council on Alcoholism (NCA; now known as the

National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence The National Council on Alcoholism and Drug Dependence (NCADD) is an American advocacy organization focused on alcoholism, drug addiction and the consequences of alcohol and other drug use. NCADD is built on a foundation of participation by members ...

, NCAAD). In the 1960s, there was a new President at Yale. Around this time, the Yale Corporation voted to move the Center to a new location, negotiating mainly with

Brown Brown is a color. It can be considered a composite color, but it is mainly a darker shade of orange. In the CMYK color model used in printing or painting, brown is usually made by combining the colors orange and black. In the RGB color model us ...

, Columbia and Rutgers University. The center moved to Rutgers University in 1962, with financial assistance from the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government responsible for biomedical and public health research. It was founded in the late ...

and philanthropist Christopher D. Smithers. Biochemist David Lester was appointed scientific director of the CAS after it moved to Rutgers. In 1964, the Center moved again to Smithers Hall, where the CAS is located today. Interest in Alcohol studies increased in the United States in the 1970s. In December 1970, the

National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism The National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), as part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, supports and conducts biomedical and behavioural research on the causes, consequences, treatment, and prevention of alcoholism ...

(NIAA) was created as part of the National Institutes of Health. The NIAA began to fund research at the CAS in the 1970s.

Journal

While the CAS was still considered part of the Laboratory of Applied Physiology (LAP) located at Yale, Howard W. Haggard in 1940 founded the ''Quarterly Journal of Studies on Alcohol'', the oldest journal on alcohol/addiction studies. The journal published both original research and abstracts from other sources. In 1941, Jellinek was managing editor of the journal. For several years Mark Keller was editor of the ''Quarterly'' from 1959 to 1977 and was named editor emeritus after his retirement. The Mark Keller Award was created in his honor for the best article in the journal. Timothy Coffey succeeded Keller. The journal was later renamed the ''Journal of Studies on Alcohol'' and became a monthly publication in 1975. Again the journal was renamed to the ''Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs''. It is currently a bimonthly publication.

Library

Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature

The Classified Abstract Archive of the Alcohol Literature (CAAAL) is a special collection of abstracts by CAS staff from 1938 through 1977 of the scientific and scholarly alcohol literature. Jellinek was the original executive director. Publication ceased in 1978.

Donations

The Center has received several donations, including the Connor Alcohol Research Reference Files (CARRF). National Association of Lesbian and Gay Alcoholism Professionals (NALGAP), donated a library of research related to alcoholism and homosexuality.

Research

The CAS operates these laboratories:

Biomedical

* Neuropharmacogenetics *

Neuropharmacology Neuropharmacology is the study of how drugs affect function in the nervous system, and the neural mechanisms through which they influence behavior. There are two main branches of neuropharmacology: behavioral and molecular. Behavioral neuropharmac ...

Prevention and cause

* Cardiac Neuroscience Laboratory * Health and Human Development Project * Integrative Analysis Research Lab for College Alcohol Intervention Research * Pittsburgh Youth Study * R-SHARE * RASRR * Sensation and Emotion Lab

References

External links

Official website

Official website for the ''Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs''
{{Rutgers Rutgers University Alcohol abuse in the United States 1935 establishments in Connecticut