Saunders Receives Grant to Advance Genetic Research in Substance Use and Diversity

We are pleased to announce that Gretchen Saunders received a K01 Mentored Research Scientist Development Award. This five-year grant is intended for early career researchers and aims to provide protected time for research, intensive mentorship, and supervising, leading to research independence. She is mentored by Scott Vrieze (University of Minnesota), Dajiang Liu (Penn State University), and Michelle Meyer (Geisinger). 

Saunders notes the aims of her award include, “expanding sample sizes and ancestral diversity within genetic studies of tobacco and alcohol use, a detailed evaluation of the transferability of genetic association results, particularly genetic risk scores, across human populations, and a large component on the ethical and social implications of substance use genomics research.” 

Composed by Madison Stromberg, communications assistant.