Welcome to the CSA
Mission
Research:
The primary mission of the CSA is to advance knowledge on the nature of addiction and the best ways to treat the disorder. Our research is translational in two directions. We apply knowledge from the preclinical laboratory to clinical trials in a university setting. We also translate knowledge learned from clinical trials to the practitioners in the community. Thus, the medications and behavioral treatments discovered or refined in our research can have an impact on the care received by patients all over the world.
Education:
Another key component of our Center’s mission is the development and maintenance of educational programs on the causes of addiction and the best methods to assess and treat the disorder. The design and content of our educational programs strongly reflect the field’s significant research findings, much of which come from studies conducted at the Center. Included in these programs is the University’s teaching on addiction, a key component of the Penn medical student’s curriculum. We also train psychiatric residents and residents in medicine and primary care. We have an ACGME-approved fellowship training program for clinicians desiring board certification in Addiction Psychiatry and an NIH-funded addiction research training program for PhDs and MDs.
Patient Care:
Research findings that influenced the design of our educational programs have also provided the framework for our patient care practices. The methods we use to diagnose the presence and severity of addictive disorders and the interventions for treating them are evidenced-based protocols. Individuals seeking treatment for substance-related addictions may receive care through one of the following:
1. Referral to one of the Center’s clinical trials to learn the details of the study and to determine eligibility for enrollment,
2. Referral to the fee-based, private-practice treatment program located at the O’Brien Center, or
3. Assistance in arranging a self-referral to one of the local community-based treatment programs.
CSA In the News
Sylvanus Toikumo, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at the CSA, received the NIH K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award in 2025 to support his research on the genetic and neurobiological mechanisms of chronic pain. His project combines multi-omics data with electronic health records to identify novel, repurposable drug targets for pain-related disorders.
Over the past year, Dr. Sylvanus Toikumo received multiple honors, including being named an NIH All of Us Biomedical Research Scholar at Baylor College of Medicine, the Reviewers’ Choice and Trainee Research Excellence Awards from the American Society of Human Genetics, and both the Oral Presentation and Early Career Investigator Travel Awards from the World Congress of Psychiatric Genetics.
Dr. Christal Davis has received a VA Career Development Award (CDA-2) to support her research on chronic pain and opioid use disorder (OUD). Her project uses multi-omics data and machine learning to identify biological and clinical factors linked to risk and resilience for OUD in individuals with chronic pain, aiming to uncover mechanisms that inform more personalized prevention and treatment strategies.
A career of unlocking the genetic drivers of addiction
As director of the Center for Studies of Addiction at the University of Pennsylvania, Henry Kranzler, MD has spent decades exploring how genetic risk factors influence vulnerability to alcohol use disorder (AUD), how those insights can inform targeted approaches to care, and preventing the adverse effects of heavy alcohol consumption.
Dr. Kranzler Honored for Addiction Research and Teaching
Henry R. Kranzler, MD, was received the James H. Tharp Award for his work in the area of alcoholism and also received the Dan Anderson Research Award from the Butler Center for Research. The recognized study - Topiramate Treatment for Heavy Drinkers: Moderation by a GRIK1 Polymorphism . Most recently, Dr. Kranzler received the Scott Mackler Award for Excellence in Substance Abuse Teaching.