2013: George Bigelow & Maxine Stitzer
George Bigelow is a professor of behavioral biology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he is director of the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, a nationally recognized drug abuse research laboratory, and director of its postdoctoral research training program in the human behavioral pharmacology of substance abuse. Dr. Bigelow's research has focused on the determinants and consequences of human drug self-administration, and on the use of behavior analysis methods in the study and treatment of substance abuse. He has studied alcohol, tobacco, heroin, cocaine, and other substances, and his work has included controlled human laboratory research demonstrating drugs functioning as reinforcers and the controllability of drug self-administration by its consequences. In addition, he has conducted outpatient clinical trials of incentive-based behavior therapies both alone and when integrated with pharmacotherapies. He and Maxine Stitzer have worked together for several decades in applying behavior analysis principles and methods to the study and treatment of substance-use problems and to the translation of behavioral principles from the laboratory to broader clinical therapeutic application.
Dr. Maxine Stitzer is a research psychologist and professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit. Her research has focused on pharmacological and behavioral approaches to treating substance abuse and reflects interests in illicit drug abuse (opiates, stimulants) and tobacco dependence. She has published more than 250 papers, co-edited a book on methadone treatment, served on the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality Smoking Cessation Clinical Guidelines panel, and founded a model psychosocial counseling program at Johns Hopkins for opiate and cocaine users. She heads the Mid-Atlantic Node of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network, which conducts research in community clinics on new and existing treatments and promotes adoption of effective treatments. She is known for her work on contingency management approaches in substance-abuse treatment, designed to enhance motivation for positive behavior change and particularly effective for promoting drug abstinence. She is the recipient of numerous federal research grants and several awards for outstanding contributions to behavioral science research.
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