The National Institutes of Health has awarded Florida International University a $12.7 million grant to study substance abuse and adolescent brain development.
The award is for the first five-year cycle of the research study.
Raul Gonzalez, an associated professor of psychology, psychiatry and immunology, will lead a team of 14 researchers who will examine the presence of disruptive behavior disorders including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
During the first five years of the study, researchers will recruit hundreds of South Florida youth. They'll collect detailed substance use along with psychosocial, neuropsychological and neuroimaging data to help determine factors that lead to substance abuse. The hope is to uncover the factors that impact brain development in adolescence.
The study will initially create 13 new jobs at FIU.