Francis Vocci, Jr., Ph.D.

Frank Vocci received his B.S. in biological sciences from Loyola College. His graduate studies were concentrated in pharmacology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. During that time he worked in the Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory in the Department of Neurology and also volunteered as a staff counselor at the Tuerk House, a residential program for alcohol and drug detoxification. He received post-doctoral training in pharmacology (1977-1978) at the Medical College of Virginia with Drs. William Dewey and Louis Harris. From 1978 to 1989, Dr. Vocci was employed with the Food and Drug Administration in the Drug Abuse Staff in the Division of Neuropharmacological Drug Products. He reviewed drug applications for adequacy of characterization of pharmacology and toxicology, evidence of drug efficacy, and characterization of abuse potential and possible necessity of scheduling of drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. In addition to his duties as an FDA reviewer, Dr. Vocci was also a guest researcher in the Clinical Neurosciences Branch of the National Institute on Mental Health, and an ad hoc consultant to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the World Health Organization. Since 1989 he has been affiliated with the Medications Development Program at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, where he is currently the Director of the Division of Treatment Research and Development. In his current capacity, he is responsible for overseeing research and development activities in clinical neurosciences, and for behavioral therapies and medications development for the treatment of opiate and stimulant abuse and dependence. Dr. Vocci has authored or co-authored over 40 articles in the fields of neuropharmacology and substance abuse. In 2001, Dr. Vocci received a Presidential Meritorious Executive Award for his leadership of the treatment research effort at NIDA.