The award, sponsored by the Butler Center for Research at Hazelden, recognizes Johnson for leading cutting-edge research that helps clinicians better understand the biological basis of alcoholism and suggests that a medication called ondansetron may someday prove to be an effective adjunct of care for patients with early-onset alcoholism. The award honors the distinguished contribution of a researcher who has advanced the scientific knowledge of addiction recovery.

Johnson earned the award for his study that was published Aug. 23, 2000 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). The study's major findings demonstrate that ondansetron treatment significantly decreased the number of drinks consumed per day and increased periods of abstinence in early-onset alcoholics (or biologically predisposed alcoholic patients) but not late-onset alcoholics. This is the first study that successfully uses medication to achieve abstinence in biologically predisposed alcoholics, and it is also the first investigation that demonstrates the importance of tailoring pharmacotherapy in accordance with a subtype of alcoholism.

"It's great to win something, and it's even better to win something as prestigious as the Dan Anderson Research Award," said Johnson, the Wurzbach Distinguished Professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center. "I'm very honored to receive this award."

Johnson's study, a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trial, hypothesized that patients with early-onset alcoholism compared with late-onset alcoholism would experience better drinking outcomes in response to ondansetron due to the amelioration of serotonin dysfunction. People with early-onset alcoholism tend to have increased psychosocial difficulties, such as aggressiveness and impulsivity. They have an abnormality in their serotonin system, said Johnson. "What we did was find a specific medication to correct the serotonin dysfunction," Johnson said. "Ondansetron works by reducing midbrain and cortical release of dopamine. The functional state of the serotonin receptor is genetically modulated, and therefore the interaction between one of these genetic variants and chronic drinking among early-onset alcoholics appears to reduce serotonergic transmission. As a result, postsynaptic cells try to compensate by increasing their numbers to compensate for the dearth of serotonin."

"This study provides convincing evidence that early-onset alcoholics are not only biologically different from late-onset alcoholics, but their response to drug therapy is also different," said R. Adron Harris, PhD, director of the Waggoner Center for Alcoholism and Addiction Research at the University of Texas at Austin. "This has clear and important implications for drug development in addiction medicine and for matching of subtypes of alcoholics to appropriate treatment regimens."

Harris nominated Johnson for the award. Johnson's work was selected as the best from among several outstanding candidates by the seven-member Scientific Panel of the Butler Center for Research, said Patricia Owen, PhD, director of the Butler Center for Research. The scientific panel includes Owen; Dennis Donovan, PhD, University of Washington; Barbara McCrady, PhD, Rutgers University; A Thomas McLellan, PhD, University of Pennsylvania; Dorothy Hatsukami, PhD, University of Minnesota; Frances Levin, MD, Columbia University; and Ken Winters, PhD, University of Minnesota.

"The panel was impressed with Dr. Johnson's systematic, scientific approach to the study of addiction," said Owen. "At Hazelden, our model of treatment is based on the Twelve Step philosophy of AA. With that as our foundation, we are always open to new learning. This study helps us see how some scientists are working to understand the biological aspect of the disease, and what approaches might be helpful as an adjunct to treatment to help certain alcoholics. The results of this study, at this point, don't mean we have a great medication that'll cure alcoholism. Instead, the findings suggest that something different might be happening, biologically, among early-onset alcoholics. And, the more we understand that, the more hope we have of someday being even better at addressing alcoholism earlier in its course."

Ondansetron is currently used as an anti-nausea medication for cancer patients receiving chemotherapy. It is not FDA approved for use among alcoholics. However, "studies are currently ongoing to both replicate and expand our experiment," said Johnson. The research offers hope for early-onset alcoholics, both those in recovery and those in the midst of their addiction. Early-onset alcoholics represent about 30 percent of all alcoholics, and they usually develop their disease before age 25, says Johnson.

Johnson's study is titled "Ondansetron for Reduction of Drinking Among Biologically Predisposed Alcoholic Patients: A Randomized Controlled Trial." He will receive the award on May 17 at Hazelden in Center City, Minn., and will receive a $2,000 honorarium.