Noninvasive Neuromodulation for Addiction (2026-2027)

Background

Nearly 45 million adults in the United States smoke cigarettes, and half will die or become disabled from smoking-related disease. Tobacco use causes more deaths than AIDS, illicit drugs, alcohol, motor vehicle accidents, suicide and homicide combined. People with psychiatric disorders are disproportionately affected and account for nearly half of tobacco-related deaths nationwide. Veterans with posttraumatic stress disorder face even greater risks. Although many want to quit, long-term abstinence remains rare.

Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation is a noninvasive brain stimulation technique that can change how neural circuits function and is cleared by the Food and Drug Administration as a short-term aid for smoking cessation. However, most studies exclude people with mental health conditions, leaving major gaps in understanding its effectiveness for veterans with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) and others who experience high tobacco burden. This team will work to address this inequity by studying the effectiveness and neural mechanisms of this approach and by improving global access to evidence on neuromodulation.

Project Description

This project team will participate in a randomized, controlled clinical trial evaluating brain stimulation as a smoking cessation aid for veterans with PTSD. Participants will receive active or sham stimulation paired with counseling and nicotine replacement therapy. Team members will help assess feasibility, evaluate short-term smoking outcomes and investigate how stimulation affects brain circuits related to addiction.

Students will contribute to study visits, which may include MRI and stimulation sessions, participant recruitment and retention efforts, data management and statistical analysis. They will also extend ongoing research to additional clinical groups through literature review and targeted methodological refinements.

In parallel, students will work on WIKIStim.org, an international, publicly accessible database of neuromodulation studies. They will help expand content on noninvasive brain stimulation and incorporate artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches to improve global access to research evidence.

The team will work in two subgroups — one focused on the clinical trial and one on AI-supported database development — with graduate students serving as mentors and subgroup leads. Weekly full-team meetings and smaller check-ins will support collaboration and progress.

Anticipated Outputs

• Curated clinical and neuroimaging datasets
• Peer-reviewed publications
• Conference presentations
• Expanded WIKIStim.org content with AI and machine learning enhancements
• Training materials for neuromodulation and clinical research
• Contributions to a potential new treatment pathway for smoking cessation in veterans

Student Opportunities

Ideally, this project team will include 2-3 graduate students and 6-8 undergraduate students. Students with interests in neuroscience, psychology, addiction, trauma, mental health, biomedical engineering, computer science, statistics, MRI analysis, neuromodulation technologies or veteran-focused research are encouraged to apply.

Team members will gain hands-on experience with:

• Repetitive transcranial magnetic stimulation procedures, including motor threshold determination
• MRI data acquisition and processing
• Data management, coding, statistical analysis and visualization
• Study recruitment, regulatory processes and clinical trial operations
• Scientific writing, dissemination strategies and conference presentation development
• Artificial intelligence and machine learning approaches for research curation

Graduate students will have opportunities to mentor undergraduates, oversee components of the clinical trial and participate in advanced neuromodulation and imaging workflows. A staff project manager will support day-to-day operations.

This project includes optional summer opportunities for onboarding, regulatory preparation, protocol review and training in neuromodulation, imaging and AI tools. Students typically work 10 hours per week for 12 weeks.

Travel needs are still under consideration.

Timing

Summer 2026 – Summer 2027

Summer 2026 (optional):

• Onboarding and required training
• Review of study protocols
• Foundational training in stimulation, imaging and AI tools

Fall 2026:

• Weekly team meetings
• Literature reviews and journal clubs
• Subgroup goal setting
• Writing projects
• Participation in clinical trial tasks and WIKIStim.org development

Spring 2027:

• Formal neuromodulation training
• Study visits and data analysis
• Development of manuscripts and presentations
• Refinement of dissemination strategies

Summer 2027 (optional):

• Continued trial support and data analysis
• Manuscript preparation
• Mentoring of new students

Crediting

Academic credit available for fall and spring semesters

See earlier related team, Noninvasive Neuromodulation for Addiction (2025-2026).