Dr. Nora Volkow is a distinguished neuroscientist and psychiatrist who has served as Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of Health since May 2003. Born in Mexico City to a Jewish family with historical significance, she attended the Modern American School before earning her medical degree from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City, where she received the Robins Award as the best medical student of her generation. Following her psychiatric residency at New York University, she earned a Laughlin Fellowship from The American College of Psychiatrists as one of the ten outstanding psychiatric residents in the United States. Prior to her leadership role at NIDA, Dr. Volkow held significant positions at the Department of Energy's Brookhaven National Laboratory, where she served as Director of Nuclear Medicine, Chairman of the Medical Department, and Associate Laboratory Director for Life Sciences.
Dr. Volkow's groundbreaking research has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is fundamentally a brain disorder rather than a behavioral choice or moral failing. As a pioneer in the use of brain imaging techniques, she documented critical changes in the dopamine system that affect brain regions responsible for reward, motivation, and self-control in individuals with substance use disorders. Her extensive body of work, comprising over 800 peer-reviewed articles, has fundamentally transformed addiction science by establishing neurobiological mechanisms underlying addictive behaviors. This paradigm shift has moved drug addiction science into mainstream medicine, providing a scientific foundation for evidence-based prevention and treatment approaches while extending to significant contributions in the neurobiology of obesity, attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, and aging.
As Director of NIDA, Dr. Volkow oversees the world's largest funder of scientific research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction, shaping national and international research priorities in this critical public health domain. Her leadership has been pivotal in addressing the opioid crisis through evidence-based policies and advancing research on emerging substance use challenges while emphasizing the importance of reducing stigma associated with addiction. Dr. Volkow has received numerous prestigious honors including election to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, the International Prize from the French Institute of Health and Medical Research, and the Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Sciences. Beyond her research and leadership, she continues to champion the understanding that addiction involves specific neuronal circuits damaged by substance use, guiding NIDA's strategic vision toward integrated scientific solutions for substance use disorders.
