Core Group Member

Robert L. Balster, Ph.D.
Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, Research Professor of Psychology,
Director, Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies
Virginia Commonwealth University
Blackwell Smith Building, Room 754
410 North 12th Street
Richmond, VA 23298-0310
Phone: 804-828-8402
Fax: 804-827-0304
Email:  balster@hsc.vcu.edu

Dr. Balster is Director of the Institute for Drug and Alcohol Studies, Butler Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology, and Research Professor of Psychology and Psychiatry at Virginia Commonwealth University.  He is also the Co-Director of the Virginia Youth Tobacco Project, a multi-university coalition of tobacco scientists in the state, and is the Coordinator of the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship Program in Substance Abuse Prevention, Treatment and Policy at VCU.  He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, the College on Problems of Drug Dependence (CPDD), and the American Psychological Association.  He is a Past‑President of the CPDD.  Previous appointments also include Chair of the Drug Abuse Clinical and Behavior Study Section at the National Institute on Drug Abuse, Chair of the FDA Drug Abuse Advisory Committee, and Chair of the Board of Scientific Affairs of the American Psychological Association.  He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Drug and Alcohol Dependence and serves on the editorial boards of four additional journals.  In 2000, Dr. Balster received the first annual Mentorship Award of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and in 2006 received the Excellence in Mentoring Award from the NIDA International Program.  The principal areas of Dr. Balster's research program are neurobehavioral pharmacology and substance abuse.  His primary interests are in phencyclidine/ketamine, inhalant and tobacco abuse.  He has also worked in the areas of marijuana, opiate, and alcohol research. He also has extensive experience in drug abuse potential evaluation and in the drug approval process for psychiatric, neurologic and addiction treatment products. Dr. Balster’s research program has been continuously funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1976 and he has been the recipient of a National Institute on Drug Abuse MERIT Award.  Dr. Balster has published over 240 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 Congress and the Virginia General Assembly.