Interest in understanding molecular pathways and potential biomarkers for neuropsychiatric disorders has led to advances in neuroscience and genetic research (Kalia & Costa, 2015). The AUD cohorts have been studied using advanced techniques including MALDI Imaging (Yalcin & de la Monte, 2015) and RNA Sequencing (Farris, Arasappan, Hunicke-Smith, Harris, & Mayfield, 2015). Furthermore, shared genome-wide association studies (GWAS) data by NSWBTRC researchers who have accessed different brain regions enhances the potential of data analysis and productivity of this facility (Edenberg et al., 2010; McClintick et al., 2013; Okvist et al., 2007; Wang, Gelernter, & Zhang, 2013). Data sharing on platforms such as GeneWeaver and GeneNetwork provides an integration opportunity for research on other species. Other methods applied to NSWBTRC tissue include digitization of the fixed slices for comparative volumetric studies (McCorkindale et al., under review, Zheng et al., under review).
