University of Michigan Addictions Research Internship: An In-Depth Overview

The University of Michigan (U-M) provides various opportunities for individuals interested in the field of addiction research and treatment. These opportunities range from summer internships for high school students to graduate programs and faculty positions. This article delves into the details of the University of Michigan's addiction research internship, its connection to the broader U-M Addiction Center, addiction studies programs at Western Michigan University, and related resources.

Summer Research Internship for High School Students

The University of Michigan offers a summer research internship program designed to provide Michigan high school students with a hands-on research experience. This program offers an ideal six-week exposure to the scientific research world for students driven by a curiosity about the life sciences.

The application portal for the Summer 2026 program is scheduled to open on December 1, 2025.

Program Goals and Environment

The Aspirnaut program seeks to foster a sense of accomplishment and a deepened desire to solve problems in its interns. The program also aims to motivate its alumni to attend college and pursue careers in STEM fields (science, technology, engineering, and math).

Despite the large size of the U-M campus, the Aspirnaut program creates a small and tight-knit community, providing individual attention and making it easy for interns to navigate the campus and broader community.

The U-M Addiction Center

The U-M Addiction Center conducts clinical and basic research that examines the biological underpinnings of substance use and substance use disorders. The faculty is invested in the long-term policy issues related to substance use disorders and related medical conditions.

Collaborations and Partnerships

The Addiction Center sustains ties with numerous organizations and operating structures within and outside the University of Michigan. These relationships are essential to its ongoing mission, allowing the development of a scientific agenda and providing clinical opportunities that enhance training activity and allow treatment evaluation studies to recruit patients as subjects. Foremost among these are:

U-M Addiction Treatment Services
The VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System

A number of faculty hold appointments with both institutions. The VA Ann Arbor operates an outpatient Substance Use Disorders Clinic (SUDC) as well as a Substance Use Disorders Intensive Outpatient Program (SUD-IOP). The U-M Addiction Center is also the administrative core for the Michigan Mental Health Integration Partnership (MIP).

In addition to these relationships, the Addiction Center has ongoing research and/or clinical collaborations/projects with a large number of departments and centers at the University of Michigan. The Department of Psychiatry sustains the infrastructure of the Addiction Center as a vital part of the Program’s operations.

U-M Addiction Treatment Services

U-M Addiction Treatment Services, the clinical branch of the U-M Addiction Center, provides clinical care, professional training, and research in the area of substance use disorders. It operates within the Department of Psychiatry's Ambulatory Care Unit. U-M Addiction Treatment Services provides a balance of treatment modalities, levels of care, and case mix. A number of U-M Addiction Center Faculty have joint appointments with Ann Arbor Veterans Affairs Medical Center.

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U-M Addiction Treatment Services provides tailored, evidence-based outpatient addiction treatment, specializing in treatment services for adults, young adults, and adolescents. This includes individuals with both mental health and substance use issues.

Research Focus Areas

The Addiction Center's research efforts are focused in six major thematic areas:

Molecular genetics and computational neuroscience.
Randomized controlled trials: Evaluating the efficacy of screening and early intervention protocols for adolescents and young adults for alcohol, other drugs, and violence, including family-based interventions for at-risk children.
Identification of factors contributing to alcoholism and drug abuse: Studies on the identification of genetic, neuropsychological, and psychosocial factors that contribute to alcoholism and other drug abuse across different segments of the life span. Other work in this area is focused on characterization of developmental course with a special interest in heterogeneity of the addictive risk on phenotype. This program of research is carried out in collaboration with investigators from the UM Molecular and Behavioral Neurosciences Institute and the University's Functional MRI Laboratory. Current fMRI and PET studies are looking at the relationships of brain activation patterns to genetic risk and prior behavioral risk, relationships to neurocognitive functioning, and to substance use and abuse outcomes for nicotine, alcohol, and illicit drugs.
Course predictors, effectiveness, and medication development studies: These studies target patients with substance use disorders, tracking their course of illness during and following treatment interventions. Naturalistic treatment outcome studies are used to identify biological, psychosocial, cultural, spiritual and ethnic factors that influence or protect against subsequent drug use and relapse. Biological factors of particular interest include genetic markers of the GABA and serotonin systems and sleep physiology.
Health services outcomes of treatment: Research on the health services outcomes of treatment and documentation of differences in clinical manifestations and course of different population subgroups.
Interrelationships between pain, medications used to treat pain, and substance use: Studies of the 1) effects of sleep problems on course of alcoholism and relapse, 2) role of sleep disturbances in the etiology of substance use disorders, 3) characteristics of chronobiological variation in earlier life as predictors of later substance use and abuse and 4) interrelationships between pain, medications used to treat pain and substance use; 5) use of opioids and the prevention of adverse outcomes, e.g., overdose; and 5) development and testing of novel interventions to address co-occurring chronic pain and substance use disorders.

Facilities

The offices of the U-M Addiction Center occupy two different locations at the University of Michigan. The Center's research space at the Rachel Upjohn Building on the East Ann Arbor Medical Campus is 5,220 square feet. At the Rachel Upjohn Building, the Addiction Center has office, meeting, library, archival, data collection, data management, and computational space. The U-M Addiction Center also has a number of conference rooms where scientific staff meetings take place. These meeting rooms also serve as interview and data collection offices. The Center occupies 1,065 square feet at the North Campus Research Center (NCRC). The NCRC houses several health research groups, encouraging the development of collaborative research relationships and projects. The facilities include state-of-the-art teleconferencing tools and equipment that allow for collaborative effort in shared workspaces. The space also includes offices for investigators and research support staff, and a number of conference rooms for meetings.

Addiction Studies Program at Western Michigan University (SPADA)

Western Michigan University (WMU) offers an Addiction Studies Program (SPADA) that has been preparing students for careers in addiction prevention and treatment for over 50 years.

Program Overview

SPADA is a leader in the education of personnel in a variety of positions in addiction treatment. The program's goal is to provide a pathway for SPADA graduates to obtain employment in a rewarding career helping others. The coursework prepares students to effectively understand and address substance use, whether they wish to work directly with clients in recovery or in the prevention arena. SPADA is also ideal for those who simply wish to learn a bit more about addiction to supplement their graduate studies. Many students are also concurrently enrolled in another program such as counseling, social work, occupational therapy, or psychology.

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WMU offers two SPADA graduate certificates, available in online and hybrid formats. The Clinical Addiction Certificate is an 18-credit hour program, designed for those who already have a bachelor's degree and wish to pursue further education in the field. This certificate is a great option for those who wish to obtain additional credentials with the State of Michigan.

Unique Aspects of SPADA at WMU

The Addiction Studies Program (SPADA) at WMU is the first university-based training clinic in Michigan to address the criminal justice population and those who use substances. Courses examine biological, psychological and sociological aspects of substance use, giving students a comprehensive perspective. Students can utilize the knowledge and skills they acquire in the program to specialize in careers where substance use disorders demand attention -- like psychology, social work, public health, corrections, sociology, management or community education, just to name a few.

SPADA Graduates

SPADA graduates work in a variety of settings, utilizing their knowledge and skills to address substance use disorders in diverse populations.

Additional Resources

There are numerous resources available for individuals seeking information and support related to addiction. Some notable examples include:

Books:
- 365 Ways to Have Fun Sober by Lisa Hann
- A Woman’s Way Through the 12 Steps by Stephanie S. Covington
- Beyond Addiction: How Science and Kindness Help People Change by Jeffrey Foote, et al.
- Don’t Let Your Kids Kill You: A Guide for Parents of Drug and Alcohol Addicted Children by Charles Rubin
- I Love You, More: Short Stories of Addiction, Recovery, and Loss From the Family's Perspective by Blake E.
Organizations:
- Western Michigan University's Addiction Studies Program (SPADA)

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