News Release

Dr. Nora D. Volkow to receive Aebersold Award

Grant and Award Announcement

Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging

Nora D. Volkow, MD, Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health and a leader in drug addiction research, is the recipient of the 2003 Society of Nuclear Medicine’s (SNM) 2003 Paul C. Aebersold Award for outstanding achievement in basic science applied to nuclear medicine. The award will be presented at the Society’s 50th Annual Meeting.

The first woman to serve as NIDA’s director, Dr. Volkow has a long history of accomplishment in drug addiction research. Her work has focused on the dopamine systems in the brains of addicted, obese, and aging individuals. She was the first to use imaging to investigate the neurochemical changes associated with addiction. She has produced more than 290 peer-reviewed publications, more than 50 book chapters, edited three books and has received numerous awards, including designation as U.S. News and World Report’s “Innovator of the Year” for 2000.

Dr. Volkow earned her BA from Modern American School in Mexico City, Mexico and her MD from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City. She did her postdoctoral training in psychiatry at New York University in New York City. Prior to joining NIDA, she was associate director for life sciences, director of nuclear medicine, and director of the NIDA-Department of Energy Regional Neuroimaging Center at Brookhaven National Laboratory. Dr. Volkow was also a professor in the department of psychiatry and associate dean of the medical school at the State University of New York (SUNY), Stony Brook.

The Aebersold Award is named for Dr. Paul C. Aebersold, a pioneer in the biologic and medical application of radioactive materials and the first Director of the Atomic Energy Commission’s Division of Isotope Development at Oak Ridge, Tennessee. The first Aebersold Award was given by SNM in 1973.

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