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Volkow to Head Federal Addiction Research Agency

The National Institute on Drug Abuse has tapped one of the addictions field’s most respected researchers as its next director.

Nora D. Volkow, M.D., is the new head of the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

Noted substance abuse researcher Nora D. Volkow, M.D., currently associate director for life sciences at the Brookhaven National Laboratory, has been named by National Institutes of Health Director Elias Zerhouni, M.D., as the next director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA).

Volkow, an APA member, is also director of nuclear medicine and director of the NIDA–Department of Energy Regional Neuroimaging Center at Brookhaven. In addition, she is a professor of psychiatry and associate dean at the State University of New York–Stony Brook School of Medicine.

Volkow is expected to begin her duties at NIDA in mid-April. She replaces Glen R. Hanson, D.D.S., Ph.D., who has served as acting director since the departure of Alan Leshner, Ph.D., in December 2001. Leshner left NIDA to become chief operating officer of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

"Dr. Volkow’s experience as a NIDA-funded researcher puts her in a unique position to lead the institute into the future," Zerhouni said in announcing the appointment. "She will bring the full power of science to confront the critical issues of drug abuse and addiction."

In a prepared statement, Volkow said she looked forward to the "opportunity to help fight one of the most serious problems facing our society—that of drug addiction."

Volkow is noted for her work on the brain’s dopamine system and, in particular, recently completed studies that have shed significant light on how the dopamine system responds to stimulants such as methylphenidate, methamphetamine, and cocaine (Psychiatric News, September 21, 2001; January 18, 2002).

Applauding the appointment, Secretary of Health and Human Services Tommy Thompson said, "I’m happy that Dr. Volkow accepted this important position to help expand scientific research and share NIDA results with health practitioners and the public."

Volkow has written or cowritten more than 275 peer-reviewed articles and edited three books and more than 50 book chapters. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine’s National Academy of Sciences and was named "Innovator of the Year" in 2000 by U.S. News and World Report.

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