addiction research

Family Foundation Advances Crucial VCU Addiction Research

Louis Harris, Ph.D., was part of the school of medicine for more than 40 years, including as chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology for two decades. 

Louis Harris, Ph.D.

During that time, Dr. Harris, who died in 2019, raised the department to national prominence by pioneering research on pain management and the pharmacology of opioids and cannabinoids. A former MCV Foundation trustee, he also received several NIH grants focused on drug abuse research.

His son, Charles Harris, and the Harris family created the Harris Family Foundation Addiction Research Endowed Fund to support research, education and outreach activities in the Division of Addiction Medicine in the VCU Department of Psychiatry. The fund supports fellowships and research programs, seed grants and educational initiatives like clinical workshops and travel expenses, as well as dissemination of addiction prevention and treatment resources along with public engagement and advocacy efforts. 

F. Gerard “Gerry” Moeller, M.D.

“My father was instrumental in pushing VCU to the forefront of addiction and drug abuse research,” Charles Harris said. “He was deeply committed to this important area of study and our family’s foundation honors his dedication and allows others to continue to advance research and education.” 

Gifts such as these provide a crucial means of filling in the gaps of research funding while large grants from the National Institutes of Health and other organizations are pending, said F. Gerard “Gerry” Moeller, M.D., director of VCU’s Wright Center for Clinical and Translational Research and the university’s associate vice president for clinical research. He also leads the VCU Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies. 

“We have a large number of grants from the NIH, but those grants are very competitive and there’s often a gap between submitting the grants and getting them,” Dr. Moeller said. “These kinds of gifts really help us generate that preliminary data to support trainees, to support education, and that leads to these larger grants and funding.”

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