I have studied opioids and opioid receptors for 30 years and have been continuously funded by NIDA since
1996. My work has been in the areas of structure-activity relationships, signaling and behavior. The long term
aim of these studies is to identify novel targets and medications to treat drug dependence and pain. My
training, both as a medicinal chemist and as a pharmacologist has been especially helpful and allowed me to
form a number of fruitful collaborations and have a general overview of the biology drug abuse. I completed a
4-year appointment as Director of the Substance Abuse Research Center and a 4 year term as President of
the International Narcotics Research Conference (INRC). I recently stepped down as Chair of the
Neuropharmacology Division of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics
(ASPET) and I am currently a member of the ASPET Council