2012 P.B. Dews Awardee - Dr. James E. Barrett

James E. Barrett, Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology & Physiology at Drexel University College of Medicine is the recipient of the 2012 P.B. Dews Lifetime Achievement Award in Behavioral Pharmacology. The award is given in alternate years and honors the fundamental contributions of P.B. Dews to behavioral pharmacology. Dr. Barrett’s many contributions to behavioral pharmacology built and expanded upon the many intellectual foundations laid by Peter B. Dews and the broader field of behavioral pharmacology.

Dr. Barrett’s research involves nearly every major aspect of behavioral pharmacology. His numerous research accomplishments have focused on some of the most important concepts and questions in the field of behavioral pharmacology, with particular emphasis on the behavioral determinants of drug action. An important part of Dr. Barrett’s research involved the concepts of environmental context and behavioral history. A landmark study of his showed that a specific behavioral history could impact the behavioral effects of drugs in an orderly and predictable fashion. Dr. Barrett has also dedicated a great deal of research to animal models of neuropsychiatric disorders, especially affective disorders.

Dr. Barrett received his B.A. in Psychology from the University of Maryland and his Ph.D. in Psychology and Neurobiology from Penn State University. Following postdoctoral training at the Worcester Foundation for Experimental Biology he received faculty appointments at the University of Maryland and Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences in Bethesda, MD. He moved to the pharmaceutical industry, first at Lederle Laboratories where he was Director of Central Nervous System Research. His move to Wyeth followed its merger with Lederle where he was Vice President of Neuroscience Discovery Research. He has also held positions as Chief Scientific Officer and President of Research at Adolor Corporation and served as Vice President of Research and Development at Memory Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Barrett has published more than 275 scientific articles, books and abstracts. He has served on numerous NIH review committees and serves on several editorial boards. He was a Past President of the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) and currently serves as Chair of ASPET’s Board of Publication Trustees. For several years, he was a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the New England Regional Primate Research Center at Harvard Medical School. He is Past President of the Behavioral Pharmacology Society and has served on the board and committees of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB). Throughout his career, Dr. Barrett has also been recognized by many colleagues for his great commitment and dedication to teaching and mentoring. Now at Drexel, he established a Masters Program in Drug Discovery and Development to help more fully instruct students on pharmaceutical industry career development. View/Download (PDF)
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