NYU School of Medicine

Under the guidance of Charles R. Marmar, MD, center director, our researchers use advanced and novel computational methods, biomarker analysis, and imaging approaches to further their knowledge. The center was established in 2019 thanks to a generous five-year grant from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health.

Alcohol use disorder affects about a third of individuals in the United States at some point in their lives. Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is one of the most common psychiatric comorbidities of alcohol use disorder, especially among veterans. The symptoms of PTSD interact with those of alcohol use disorder in a self-exacerbating cycle.

Our researchers study treatments that may address both conditions at once, with the anticipation that this approach is likely more effective than treating each disorder separately. Researchers recruit participants from a variety of facilities and programs in the New York City metropolitan area, including NYU Langone’s Steven and Alexandra Cohen Veterans Center for the Study of Post-Traumatic Stress and Traumatic Brain Injury and the Steven A. Cohen Military Family Center; local U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers, including the VA NY Harbor Healthcare System; psychiatric care and detox clinics at NYC Health + Hospitals/Bellevue; and an outpatient psychiatry clinic at NYU Langone Hospital-Brooklyn.