The Duke Center for Nicotine and Smoking Cessation Research (Duke CNSCR) is a research facility dedicated to finding the biological causes of smoking addiction. Under the direction of Jed Rose, Ph.D., co-creator of the nicotine skin patch, the Center works to develop and evaluate new smoking cessation treatments, and to find new applications and combinations of existing treatments. The Center conducts studies that assess the effects of nicotine on smoking behavior and the ability of subjects to successfully quit smoking. Some of our current studies test investigational approaches, while others investigate the efficacy of using existing treatments in new ways. Other studies, in collaboration with the Duke University Department of Radiology and Brain Imaging Center and Wake Forest University, use state-of-the-art brain imaging techniques to investigate nicotine's effects on the human brain. Our Center also uses pre-clinical models (including effects of nicotine on rodents) to address questions about nicotine and addiction that are difficult to address in human subjects. |