Ewa Galaj, assistant professor of psychology and neuroscience, and Jacob Goldberg, associate professor of chemistry, have received an award for $70,000 for their project “Investigating the Role of Zinc in Heroin Addiction.” There is limited but compelling evidence that zinc might play a role in opioid addiction, but exactly how it may be involved in the underlying neurochemical pathways is poorly understood. This project will identify the location of zinc stores in brain regions associated with addiction and will investigate a potential causal role of zinc in addictive behaviors. This project will foster interdisciplinary work that is needed in drug discovery research focused on finding effective pharmacological interventions for addiction.