Margarita L. Dubocovich, PhD, professor and chair of Pharmacology and Toxicology at SUNY, Buffalo has been named a State University of New York Distinguished Professor, the highest faculty rank in the SUNY system.

Dr. Dubocovich is considered a pioneering authority on melatonin and the regulation of its receptors in the brain and body. She is credited with discovering melatonin receptor subtypes that have significantly revolutionized the scientific understanding of melatonin and its effect on circadian rhythms, sleep disorders, and depression.

Since 1985, her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, National Science Foundation as well as major pharmaceutical companies, and, her lab is currently researching melatonin’s mechanism of action at the MT1 and MT2 G-protein coupled receptors. The ultimate aim of her research team is to discover novel drugs that act on each subtype.

Dr. Dubocovich has published more than 170 research articles in professional journals and has been an ASPET member since 1983.