Kenan Professor, University of North Carolina
Dr. Linda Dykstra is a Kenan Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Pharmacology and the Curriculum in Neurobiology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also Dean of the Graduate School. Dr. Dykstra received her M.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Chicago and her B.A. from Hope College in Holland, Michigan. Dr. Dykstra has been the major research advisor for a large number of predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows and has directed a NIDA-supported training program in research related to drug abuse for the last 15 years. She also directs NIGMS Bridge program that is designed to encourage students from underrepresented groups to pursue doctoral training in the biomedical sciences. For over 30 years, Dr. Dykstra has led an active research program, focusing on the behavioral pharmacology of opioid analgesics, both in relation to their pain-relieving properties as well as their tendency to produce tolerance and dependence. A more recent research interest of her laboratory is the investigation of behavioral phenotypes related to substance abuse using genetically altered mice. She has received continuous support for her research from the National Institute on Drug Abuse since 1977 and has been recognized with a Research Career Development Award, a Research Scientist Award and a MERIT award for her research contributions. Dr. Dykstra has held several professional leadership positions, including being President of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. She is an elected member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and currently serves as Chair of the Behavioral Pharmacology Division of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics and as Vice-President/ President of the North Carolina Association of Biomedical Research.