Abstract
The National Institute on Drug Abuse Genetics and Epigenetics Cross-CuttingResearch Team convened a diverse group of researchers, clinicians, and healthcareproviders on the campus of the University of California, San Diego, in June 2018.The goal was to develop strategies to integrate genetics and phenotypes across spe-cies to achieve a better understanding of substance use disorders through associa-tions between genotypes and addictive behaviors. This conference (a) discussedprogress in harmonizing large opioid genetics cohorts, (b) discussed phenotypes thatare used for genetics studies in humans, (c) examined phenotypes that are used forgenetics studies in animal models, (d) identified synergies and gaps in phenotypic ana-lyses of human and animal models and (e) identified strategies to integrate geneticsand genomics data with phenotypes across species. The meeting consisted of panelsthat focused on phenotype harmonization (Dr. Laura Bierut, Dr. Olivier George,Dr. Dan Larach and Dr. Sesh Mudumbai), translating genetic findings between spe-cies (Dr. Elissa Chesler, Dr. Gary Peltz and Dr. Abraham Palmer), interpreting andunderstanding allelic variations (Dr. Vanessa Troiani and Dr. Tamara Richards) andpathway conservation in animal models and human studies (Dr. Robert Hitzemann,Dr. Huda Akil and Dr. Laura Saba). There were also updates that were provided bylarge consortia (Dr. Susan Tapert, Dr. Danielle Dick, Dr. Howard Edenberg andDr. Eric Johnson). Collectively, the conference was convened to discuss progress andchanges in genome-wide association studies.