Associate Professor,
College of Physicians & Surgeons of Columbia University

Dr. Sandra Comer is an Associate Professor of Clinical Neuroscience in the Department of Psychiatry at the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Columbia University and a Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. Dr. Comer received her undergraduate degree at Vanderbilt University (1987) and completed her graduate training at the University of Michigan, where she received her Master of Science (1988) and Doctorate in Philosophy (1992) degrees for her research in the laboratory of Dr. James H. Woods on the effects of opioid drugs. Following graduate school, Dr. Comer completed a two-year postdoctoral fellowship at University of Minnesota, Minneapolis. There she received training in preclinical animal models of cocaine self-administration in rodents and non-human primates in the laboratory of Dr. Marilyn Carroll. In 1993, Dr. Comer began working at the Division of Substance Abuse at Columbia University. Here she received training in human preclinical studies under the mentorship of Dr. Marian Fischman and Dr. Richard Foltin. Dr. Comer’s research focus has been on the development and testing of novel approaches to the treatment of opioid dependence and the influence of sex differences and hormonal influences on responses to pain and opioid medications. Dr. Comer serves as a regular member of the National Institutes of Health Biobehavioral Regulation, Learning and Ethology (BRLE) study section, and is a voting member of the Institutional Review Board of the New York State Psychiatric Institute and of the Faculty Council of the Faculty of Medicine. She is the author or co-author of more than 50 papers, chapters, and books dealing with several aspects of substance abuse.