Atkinson Lab wins Unlocking Insights Challenge

The Atkinson Lab was recently announced as one of the winners of the National Institute on Drug Abuse's Unlocking Insights Challenge! 

Their project used All of Us genetic and health record data to see whether differences in how people metabolize medications relate to substance use. They found that several drug metabolism genes seem to influence risk, and in many cases reduced metabolism appeared to protect people by making side effects more noticeable. 

These results suggest that genetic differences in how our bodies process drugs may play a small but meaningful role in substance use patterns.