Marc Schuckit, M.D. has focused on evaluating the importance of genetic influences in alcoholism, and then searching for the biological factors that might correlate or interact with the environment to produce a vulnerability toward heavy drinking and alcohol problems. Other research efforts include a search for the optimal diagnostic criteria for substance abuse or dependence, which lead to his appointment as a member of the Task Force and Chair of the Substance Use Disorders Workgroup for DSM-IV, Co-Chair of the DSM-V Substance Use Disorders Preparation Workgroup, and is a member of the DSM-V Substance-Related Disorders Workgroup. His third focus has been on the relationship between alcoholism or drug use disorders and psychiatric syndromes, especially depression, states of anxiety, or psychoses. From these efforts he has published over 500 papers and has written over 10 books, including the recent sixth edition of Drug and Alcohol Abuse.
Dr. Schuckit is a Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and serves as the Director of the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program and of the Alcohol Research Center at the Veterans Affairs San Diego Healthcare System. He is Editor of the Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs, and has been a member of the editorial boards of many major alcohol and drug journals in the United States and Europe. In addition, he is Director of the Alcohol Medical Scholars Program with the goal of encouraging junior faculty in medical schools to improve their teaching skills and develop careers in substance use disorders. He has been fortunate to be recognized for a number of awards in the alcoholism field including the Middleton Award for the best research within the VA system, the American Psychiatric Association’s Hoffheimer Award for Research in Psychiatry (now the President’s Prize), the Gold Medal Award for lifetime achievement from the Society of Biological Psychiatry, the Distinguished Scientist Award, as well as the Seixas Award from the Research Society on Alcoholism and the Jellinek Award. He was recently awarded the Faculty Research Lecturer Award for 2007 from the UCSD Academic Senate.