The Department of Psychology would like to congratulate Dr. Katy Lenz and Dr. Benedetta Leuner on being awarded The Ohio State University Addiction Innovation Initiative Seed Grant.  

The Ohio State University Addiction Innovation Initiative Seed Grant is administered by the College of Public Health, the Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the College of Social Work.  The mission of the Addiction Innovation Initiative is to pursue solutions to the addiction crisis, and to support the university’s efforts to fulfill its land-grant mission to serve the people of Ohio and the world.

Katy Lenz (Psychology) is the Principal Investigator, and Benedetta Leuner (Psychology) and Ruth Barrientos (Psychiatry, College of Medicine) are co-Investigators, of the grant: “Opioids and new mothers: Exploring the impact of opioid use during pregnancy on the maternal brain and behavioral vulnerability in a preclinical rodent model”. It is a 1 year award for $49,895.

The project will study the impact of opioid exposure on maternal behavior, mood, and neuroinflammation in rats to ultimately discover new ways to support mothers’ mental health and caregiving abilities if they use opioids or medication assisted therapy during pregnancy.

Congratulations Katy and Benedetta!