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Nora D. Volkow, M.D
Nora D. Volkow, M.D. is the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse
(NIDA). Before assuming this position on May 1, 2004, Dr. Volkow was
Associate Director for Life Sciences at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL),
Director of Nuclear Medicine at BNL and Director of the NIDA-Department of
Energy Regional Neuroimaging Center at BNL. She was also Professor at the
Department of Psychiatry, State University of New York (SUNY) at Stony Brook and
Associate Dean for the Medical School at SUNY-Stony Brook.
Dr. Volkow received her M.D. in 1981 from the National University of Mexico,
in Mexico City, Mexico, and performed her residency in psychiatry at New York
University.
Her main area of interest is the investigation of the mechanisms underlying
the reinforcing, addictive and toxic properties of drugs of abuse in the human
brain. Dr. Volkow was the first to use imaging to investigate the
neurochemical changes in the human brain that occur during drug addiction.
Her studies have documented a decrease in function of the dopamine system in
addicted subjects that is associated with a disruption in function of frontal
brain regions involved in motivation and drive. Her work has also focused
on the investigation of the neurochemical mechanisms responsible for
intersubject variability in response to drugs and its potential link to
vulnerability to drug abuse and alcoholism.
Dr. Volkow has also used imaging to investigate the effects of
stimulant drugs with respect to both their rewarding as well as therapeutic
actions. By doing a systematic comparison of the pharmacological effects
of cocaine (one of the most addictive drug of abuse) and of methylphenidate (a
drug used to treat children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder) in
the human brain, her studies have highlighted the relevance that drug
pharmacokinetics play in enabling the reinforcing effects of stimulant drugs to
occur. These studies have also shown that stimulant drugs, when used
therapeutically, amplify DA signals in the brain, enhancing the saliency of a
stimulus and thus improving attention and performance.
She has also used imaging to investigate the changes in the dopamine system
that occur with aging and their functional significance. Her work has
documented that the loss of dopamine brain function with age in healthy subjects
with no evidence of neurological dysfunction is nonetheless associated with
motor slowing and with changes in performance of cognitive tasks that involve
executive functions. Her work now focuses on strategies to minimize the
age-related losses in dopamine brain activity as a means to improve quality of
life in the elderly.
Dr. Volkow has authored or coauthored more than 300 peer-reviewed
publications, three edited books and more then 50 book chapters and non-peer
reviewed manuscripts. She is the recipient of multiple awards for her
research, and has been elected to membership in the Institute of Medicine in the
National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Volkow was named “Innovator of the Year”
in 2000 by US News and World Report.
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