George A. Kenna
Assistant Professor (Research)
Bio Med Alcohol and Addiction Studies
Phone: +1 401 456 4910
Biography
Dr. Kenna is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research). He received his BS in Pharmacy in 1975; his Masters (2001) and Doctorate (2003) in Experimental Psychology, from the University of Rhode Island. He was a post-doctoral fellow with the Department of Psychiatry and Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown from 2004 to 2007. George is the Principal Investigator of a 4-year R-01 grant from National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) matching and mismatching serotonergic re-uptake transporter alleles with serotonergic medications-ondansetron and sertraline- used for the treatment of alcohol dependence. He is also the Co-Investigator and Project Director for a NIAAA supported grant written with Dr. Robert Swift (PI) examining the mechanism of action and utility of Aripiprazole and Topiramate on Alcohol Use in non-treatment-seeking alcoholics, as well as an NIAAA contract (R. Swift PI) comparing the safety and efficacy of Seroquel-extended release for the treatment of severe alcohol dependence.
Interests
Since coming to Brown in July 2003, George has published several first author refereed publications and has been appointed to the Editorial Board of the American Journal of Health-System Pharmacy (2007-2010). In one of his publications he first proposed the use of aripiprazole for alcohol dependence treatment, which is currently being studied for treatment of alcohol, methamphetamine and cocaine addictions. He was the liaison between the Executive Board of Healthcare Professional Students for Substance Abuse Training and the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse in 2005-2006 and is a strong believer in substance abuse education for healthcare professionals and students. George is also a Senior Scientific Advisor for the Program on Opioid Risk Management at Tufts Health Care Institute in Boston, is a part-time Clinical Pharmacist at The Westerly Hospital, in Westerly, and is an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the University of Rhode Island. George is an externship preceptor for 6th year PharmD students from the URI College of Pharmacy and has published papers with 7 of his students since 2004. He is also an externship site for psychology students from URI each semester. He has been married for 26 years to Nancy a Dental Hygienist in Warwick, and has one son John, who is finishing his last year in the Nurse Practitioner Program in Acute Care Medicine at Northeastern University.
Degrees
BS. Pharmacy, M.A., PhD.
CURRENT FUNDING
R01-AA016079 (Kenna) 9/1/07-8/31/11
NIAAA $1,499,082
Matching 5-HT Genotypes to Serotonergic Medications in Alcoholics.
We propose to randomize non-treatment-seeking alcohol dependent persons based on their 5’-HTTLPR variant genotype (LL or SS/SL) into one of two counterbalanced arms: participants in the first arm (LL) will first receive one drug (either 200mg/day of sertraline or ondansetron 0.5mg/day) for three weeks followed by an alcohol self-administration experiment. Role: Principal Investigator (148;12.7%)
CS-1027 (Swift) 7/1/07- 3/31/09
NIAAA $826,477
Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial to Compare the Safety and Efficacy of Quetiapine Extended Release versus Placebo for the Treatment of Severe Alcohol Dependence. The major goal of this study is to compare the safety and efficacy of quetiapine to placebo for the treatment of severe alcohol dependence. Role: Co-Principal Investigator and Project Director
R01 AA015753 (Swift) 7/1/07- 6/30/11
NIAAA $1,611,415
Aripiprazole and Topiramate on Free-Choice Alcohol Use.
The primary aim of this research is to determine if the combination of aripiprazole and topiramate is more effective than either drug alone in reducing alcohol use in non-treatment seeking alcohol-dependent subjects in an alcohol self-administration experiment. Role: Co-Principal Investigator and Project Director (130:7.5%)
COMPLETED FUNDING
R01-U10AA11777 (Swift) 6/30/03-6/29/04
NIAAA
Combining Medications and Behavioral Interventions (COMBINE).
COMBINE was the first national study to evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral treatments alone and in combination with naltrexone and acamprosate. Role: Research Fellow
5T32AA007459-18 (Monti) 6/30/04-6/29/07
NIAAA
Alcohol Intervention/Treatment Outcome Research Training NIAAA Postdoctoral Training Fellowship (National Research Service Award-Institutional)
Awards
2003: Finalist, The Peter F. Merenda Prize for Statistics and Research Methodology.
2004: Research Society on Alcoholism Junior Investigator Award, Vancouver CA.
2004: Research Excellence Award, Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Brown University
2004-2007: Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award
2006-2008: Who’s Who in America.
2006: Who’s Who in Medicine and Healthcare.
2006: Travel Award to The 6th Annual Guze Symposium on Alcoholism Award, Washington University in St. Louis School of Medicine, Dept Psychiatry, St. Louis, MO.
2006: Research Society on Alcoholism Junior Investigator Award, Baltimore, MD.
2006: Advanced Pharmacy Practice Preceptor of the Year, College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston RI.
2007: Early Career Investigator Award to the 69th Annual Scientific Meeting of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, June 19, 2007, Quebec, CA.
Affiliations
2000- Eastern Psychological Association (EPA)
2000- American Pharmacists Association (APhA)
2000- American Psychological Association (APA)
2003- Rhode Island Association of Health-System Pharmacists (RIHSP)
2003- Research Society on Alcoholism (RSA)
2003- International Society for Biomedical Research on Alcoholism (ISBRA)
2005- Association for Medical Education Research of Substance Abuse (AMERSA)
2006- American Pharmacists Association - APPM Addiction Practitioner Interest Group
2006- College of Neurologic and Psychiatric Pharmacists (CPNP)
-Research Committee
Teaching
2004- Physiological Psychology, University of Rhode Island