Research

We are currently interested to identify individual differences in sensitivity to acute opioid drug effects on social and affective processing contributing to the vulnerability of development and maintenance of opioid use disorder. For this, we test the interaction between attachment style and sensitivity to a mu-opioid receptor (MOR) agonist in a laboratory setting imitating prototypical risk factors for addiction (i.e., stress response and social interaction) in healthy subjects. This project includes two subsequent studies and is funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF) Ambizione Grant awarded to Dr. Kroll. With our research, we aim to provide a better mechanistic understanding of the MOR system in humans and of the vulnerability to develop and maintain opioid use disorder. In this context, we are specifically interested in the interaction between the MOR and the endocannabinoid system as a potential novel target in the treatment for opioid use disorder.

The SANPP lab is further investigating the link between the endocannabinoid system and addiction (i.e., cocaine, opioid, and alcohol use disorder) in collaboration with Prof. Boris B. Quednow.