Image: Holmes receives $1.9 million grant from NIH to study drug addiction February, 2010 Neuroscience & Behavior Program Professor Philip Holmes, along with a team of collaborators from UGA and Emory University, has been awarded a $1.9 million NIH grant to study the neurobiological mechanisms for how regular aerobic exercise may prevent drug abuse relapse. In addition to providing the basis for developing novel pharmacotherapies for addiction, the research will shed light on a specific neurobiological mechanism for the beneficial effects of exercise. Such information will be essential in optimizing behavioral interventions for treating addictive behaviors.