Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senators Susan Collins and Angus King announced that The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) has received $212,500 from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) for substance use disorder research.  This funding has been awarded through HHS’ National Institute on Drug Abuse.

“The important work being done at Jackson Lab is making great strides to conquer drug use and addiction disorders that affect far too many families in Maine,” said Senators Collins and King in a joint statement.  “We welcome this continued investment to help support Jackson Lab’s efforts to understand, prevent, and treat substance use and protect our communities.”

“Time is of the essence with addiction, and support like this is crucial to advancing much-needed research,” said LuAnn Ballesteros, vice president, external and government affairs, The Jackson Laboratory.  “We’re very grateful for the support of Senators Collins and King and the National Institute on Drug Abuse.  This is an important step in propelling our work forward to help Mainers, and people around the world impacted by addiction.” 

Researchers at The Jackson Laboratory are leading efforts to advance our understanding of the genetic factors involved in individuals’ vulnerability to substance use disorders. They use mouse models to investigate the genetics underlying the differences in addictive behaviors. Their work has identified genetic variants associated with addiction susceptibilities, providing vital insight into the biological basis for why some humans are at high risk for addiction.

In 2019, overdoses claimed the life of more than one Mainer per day, making this one of the top causes of death in the state.  Nationally, there were more than 67,000 drug overdose deaths in 2018.