Nora Volkow Director The National Institute on Drug Abuse

Nora D. Volkow, M.D., is a researcher and psychiatrist. She is the Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) soon to be the  National Institute on Drugs and Addiction at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). NIDA is the world’s largest funder of scientific research on the health aspects of drug use and addiction.

Dr. Volkow's work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction is a brain disorder. She pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate how substance use affects brain functions. In particular, her studies have documented how changes in the dopamine system affect the functions of brain regions involved with reward and self-control in addiction. She has also made important contributions to the neurobiology of obesity, ADHD, and aging. 

Dr. Volkow was born in Mexico and grew up in Mexico City. She earned her medical degree from the National University of Mexico in Mexico City. Her psychiatric residency was at New York University, where she earned a Laughlin Fellowship from The American College of Psychiatrists as one of 10 outstanding psychiatric residents in the United States.