2016 P.B. Dews Awardee - Travis Thompson, PhD and Roy W. Pickens, PhD
The American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics (ASPET) is pleased to announce that the 2016 P.B. Dews Lifetime Achievement Award for Research in Behavioral Pharmacology is being awarded to Drs. Travis Thompson and Roy W. Pickens.
The ASPET Division for Behavioral Pharmacology sponsors the Dews Award to recognize outstanding lifetime achievements in research, teaching, and professional service in the field of Behavioral Pharmacology and to honor Peter Dews for his seminal contributions to the development of behavioral pharmacology as a discipline.
Nominated by Michael Nader from Wake Forest School of Medicine, Drs. Thompson and Pickens were selected because of their individual and paramount contributions to the field of behavioral pharmacology. In consideration of the groundwork the two scientists did jointly and how innovative and significant their contributions were to the field, Dr. Nader believed it would be most deserving for them to receive the Dews award together.
Dr. Thompson is a professor in the department of educational psychology at the University of Minnesota. Dr. Pickens is retired but most recently held positions at Virginia Commonwealth University as the special assistant to the vice president for research and as a professor in the department of psychiatry.
Dr. Thompson received his PhD in Experimental Psychology from the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Gordon Heistad and Kenneth MacCorquodale and his post-doctoral training at the University of Maryland under the mentorship of Joseph Brady. At the University of Minnesota, he has mentored close to 50 PhD students. Dr. Thompson has written several books, including the first textbook on Behavioral Pharmacology (1968), and has edited multiple volumes related to behavior and pharmacology including a seven-volume series “Advances in Behavioral Pharmacology”. In 1987 he received the NIDA Award for Outstanding Contribution to the National Drug Abuse Program for Training in Behavioral Pharmacology.
Dr. Pickens received his PhD in Psychology from the University of Mississippi under the mentorship of William F. Crowder and conducted his post-doctoral research at the University of Minnesota under the mentorship of Gordon Heistad and Fred Shideman. He joined the faculty at the University of Minnesota in 1966 and moved up the ranks to full professor in 1973. Dr. Pickens has been Director of the Division of Clinical Research at NIDA, Associate Director for AIDS, past-Director of the NIDA-Intramural Research Program, Professor of Psychiatry at Medical College of Virginia. He has mentored many pre- and post-doctoral fellows over his career.
Drs. Thompson and Pickens are recognized pioneers in the study of intravenous drug self-administration and for their later work in clinical settings.
ASPET will present the Dews Award on Saturday, April 2, 2016 at 6:00 pm at the Business Meeting and Awards Presentation at the ASPET Annual Meeting at Experimental Biology 2016 at the San Diego Convention Center in Room 16AB. Dr. Thompson will deliver the P.B. Dews Lecture titled “Behavioral Mechanisms of Drug Action: Peter Dew’s Legacy,” on Monday, April 4 at 2:00 pm in Room 15B.
Last updated: August 17, 2016