Brown University COBRE Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation

The Center for Addiction and Disease Risk Exacerbation (CADRE) is a COBRE establishing a thematically linked, state-of-the-art, multidisciplinary Center investigating mechanisms where-by substance use (SU) increases the risk for or exacerbates chronic disease. It does so by employing a combination of behavioral and physiological laboratory-based approaches across several substances and across several diseases. COBRE projects investigate mechanisms underlying effects of opioids, cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol on risks for and progression of SU-related disease. Though linkages between SU and disease are well documented, physiological mechanisms underlying such associations are poorly understood, mainly because published studies use cross-sectional designs that do not allow for causal interpretations. Mechanisms studied in CADRE projects include systemic inflammation, immune system dysregulation, high blood pressure, pulmonary effects, and carcinogen exposure. A Clinical Laboratory Core provides infrastructure, resources, and scientific expertise and a center-wide database of risk factors associated with the development of SU and chronic disease.