There are significant gaps in the understanding of the causes and consequences of alcohol-related problems; therefore, new methods and approaches must be developed to ameliorate alcohol dependence among minority populations. Additionally, alcoholism is a complex disorder that must be approached across disciplines as it affects an individual’s physical and emotional health and service delivery in health care systems.

The Howard University Collaborative Alcohol Research Center was established in September 1997 to stimulate, strengthen, and facilitate multidisciplinary research and collaborations among university faculty that will lead to the reduction of alcohol morbidity and mortality among minority populations with emphasis on the African Americans. The Center consists of three components research, science education and faculty development. It operates under the theme, “Biological Determinants of Alcohol Action in Minorities”. Since its inception, the Center has funded 23 basic science and clinical research projects, in addition to educational training programs and teaching activities. Funding for the Center is provided by the National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse.

The Center is closely affiliated with leading institutions conducting state-of-the-art alcohol research. These include Indiana University—University of Connecticut and the State University of New York, Brooklyn. The ability to recruit and ascertain African Americans for research studies largely depends on our collaboration with community-based substance abuse treatment facilities in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. Some of these organizations include the Salvation Army Harbor Light Center, Coalition for the Homeless, Second Genesis, and Training Resource Associates.

The Science Education and Faculty Development programs are intended to increase the knowledge base and skills of physicians, health care workers, medical and graduate students by offering courses, seminars and training in alcohol prevention, intervention and treatment. As a part of the science education component a summer program for high school students was developed to provide students with hands on research and /or clinical experience which will serve to motivate them toward careers in biomedical sciences in order that the research and the care of persons with this devastating disease can continue.