Nora D. Volkow, M.D., became Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in May 2003. Dr. Volkow’s work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a disease of the human brain. As a research psychiatrist and scientist, she has pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate the toxic effects and addictive properties of abusable drugs. Read more.
Director's Remarks and Interviews
Awards
- AWARDS AMA honors government service on addiction, infectious diseases (2020)
- Washingtonian magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” (2019)
- Presidential Award from the American Society of Addiction Medicine (2019)
- Georgetown University Medical Center selects Nora Volkow for Highest Honor (2018)
- Carnegie Prize in Mind and Brain Sciences from Carnegie Mellon University (2017)
- Washingtonian magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” (2017)
- 34 Leaders Who Are Changing Health Care” by Fortune (2017)
- Washingtonian magazine’s “100 Most Powerful Women” (2015)
- Samuel J. Heyman Service to America Medal (Sammies) finalist (2013)
- Child Mind Institute Distinguished Scientist Award (2013)
- Time magazine’s “Top 100 People Who Shape Our World” (2007)
Featured Article
The brain disease model of addiction is strongly supported by scientific evidence, and stigma against people who use drugs can sabotage effective treatment, according to a perspective, Stigma and the Toll of Addiction, authored by NIDA Director Dr. Nora Volkow and published in The New England Journal of Medicine.