Christina Gianoulakis

Dr. Gianoulakis is a researcher at Douglas Mental Health University Institute and a Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Physiology at McGill University. She has performed investigations on the interactions of inherited (genes) and environmental (stress) factors in the development of alcoholism and on the role of the endogenous opioid system in the addictive processes. For these investigations both human individuals with and without a family history of alcoholism and experimental animals have been studied. Results demonstrated an interaction of genes and the environment in determining the development of alcoholism, while the endogenous opioid system may mediate some of the reinforcing effects of alcohol. Furthermore, differences in the sensitivity of distinct components of the endogenous opioid system to alcohol may be important in determining an individual’s vulnerability to excessive alcohol consumption.