Professor of Pharmacology, University of MichiganMedical School
Dr. Balster was trained as a research psychologist and pharmacologist. His primary research interest is in behavioral pharmacology and he credits primarily Drs. Robert Harris, Charles Schuster, Louis Harris and various of their students and colleagues for having shaped his early career. Dr. Balster has himself been advisor to 13 doctoral students and 15 postdoctoral trainees and served as the Director of Graduate Training for Pharmacology and Toxicology at MCV. He is a Fellow and recent Past-President of CPDD. His previous appointments also include Chair of the Drug Abuse Clinical and Behavior study section at NIDA, Chair of the FDA Drug Abuse Advisory Committee, and Chair of he Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association. He is Editor-in-Chief of Drug and Alcohol Dependence and serves on the editorial boards of five other scientific journals. He is also a member of the Robert Wood Johnson Research Network on the Etiology of Tobacco Dependence. Dr. Balster's research program has been continuously funded by the NIH since 1976 and he is the current recipient of a NIDA Merit Award. He has published over 220 papers in scientific journals, edited two books and authored over 35 book chapters. He also has experience in the area of drug abuse policy and has testified before the U.S. Congress and the Virginia General Assembly.