UC professor’s method to treating cocaine addiction highlighted
WVXU, Local 12 report on researcher’s unique approach
The work of University of Cincinnati pharmacology professor Andrew Norman to treat cocaine addiction has been featured by WVXU and Local 12.
Norman and his team at UC and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have developed a human-made protein that acts like a regular antibody in the immune system, called a monoclonal antibody, in an effort to treat cocaine addiction. The antibody binds to cocaine and prevents it from entering the brain.
The approach, which is awaiting Food and Drug Administration approval to proceed with first‐in‐human trials, offers hope of a potential treatment for people addicted to cocaine.
“They have to be motivated to want to quit and the cocaine and the antibody will help them quit by having no effect of cocaine," Norman told WVXU. "So they take the cocaine and the cocaine is neutralized and has no effect. And in that way, because it’s not having its effect it won’t induce a relapse response.”
Norman's approach is one that has been successful for other therapies, including COVID-19 vaccines.
“We came up with the idea of taking a so-called monoclonal antibody, and these are specific antibodies, and they are used therapeutically a lot these days for various things, including COVID-19,” Norman told Local 12.
Featured image at top: University of Cincinnati professor Andrew Norman, left, works in his lab. Photo/Colleen Kelley/UC Creative Services.
Impact Lives Here
The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation and impact. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.
Related Stories
From hobbyist photographer to professional educator
October 9, 2026
DAAP alum and photographer HATSUE studied communication design after a pivot in high school from a track toward veterinary school. Today, they teach photography at 1001 Colors white working as an artist and curator in Cincinnati.
UC researcher to launch national study with $2.5 million NIH grant
October 9, 2026
A University of Cincinnati researcher has received a $2.5 million National Institutes of Health grant to conduct research during the next five years. Natalie Kreitzer, MD, a University of Cincinnati College of Medicine physician-researcher, received an R01 independent research grant from the NIH's Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. The funding will support a test program for caregivers of patients with traumatic brain injury, as reported by the Cincinnati Business Courier.
Lighting up the skyline for Blink
October 9, 2026
A team of University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music students designed “Echoes of Light,” a music-and-light installation on Ohio’s largest mural for BLINK, Cincinnati’s massive public light and art festival.