Arpana Agrawal

Arpana Agrawal

Professor of Psychiatry

Additional Titles & Roles


  • Psychiatry Research Committee, Chair
  • McDonnell Center for Systems Neuroscience, Operations Committee Member

Education & Training


  • PhD: Human Genetics (Quantitative): Virginia Commonwealth University, Richmond, VA, 2004

Major Awards


  • Theodore Reich Award for Early Career Contributions, International Society for Psychiatric Genetics, 2018
  • Henri Begleiter Award for Research Excellence, Research Society for Alcohol, 2022
  • Scott & Fuller Award for Early Career Contributions, Behavior Genetics Association, 2010
  • Dean’s Impact Award, 2024

Research Interests


My research focuses on epidemiological and genomic approaches to the study of substance use and addiction. I am funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to study how genetic and environmental factors work together to shape our liability to use cannabis and become addicted to it. In addition, I am co-PI of the Substance Use Disorders Working Group of the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). The goal of our working group is to identify common genetic variants that are related to liability for alcohol, nicotine, cannabis and other drug use disorders, and further to relate these loci (and their aggregate effect) to genetic risk for other psychiatric traits (e.g., personality) and disorders (e.g., depression).

Key Publications


  • Funded Research Projects


    NIAAA(MPI):Collaborative Study on the Genetics of Alcoholism (COGA)
    NIDA(Significant Contributor):21/21 ABCD-USA CONSORTIUM: Research Project Site at WUSTL
    NIDA(MPI):7/7 Psychiatric Genomics Consortium: Advancing Discovery and Impact
    NIDA(MPI:Neurobehavioral pathways of polygenic and polyenvironmental effects on the onset and maintenance of substance involvement
    NIDA(Significant Contributor):23/24 Healthy Brain and Child Development National Consortium
    NIAAA(Key Personnel):The role of remission in the intergenerational transmission of alcohol use disorder: Course, context, and offspring outcomes
    NIDA(PI):Biomedical Research Training in Drug Abuse
    NIDA(MPI):Early cannabis use and later opioid use disorder – the role of adverse childhood experiences, genetic liability and comorbid stimulant use
    NIDA(MPI):Prenatal Cannabis Use (PCU), Pregnancy, and Development of Offspring Brain and Behavior during Early Life (0-18 months)