Marc Potenza, MD, PhD, Steven M. Southwick Professor of Psychiatry and professor in the Child Study Center and of neuroscience will be honored with the Pedro Ruiz Academic Fellowship on Psychiatry and Dual Disorders Award at a ceremony in October.
The award is sponsored by the World Association on Dual Disorders (WADD) and World Psychiatric Association (WPA). It is the first time the honor has been jointly presented by the WADD and WPA.
The award honors the legacy of Ruiz, a renowned psychiatrist, educator, and researcher who made significant contributions to the field of psychiatry. It recognizes his efforts to advance and promote the psychiatry field and the concept of dual disorders, as well as his dedication to improving the quality of life for patients and their families.
Ruiz died in 2023. He was past president of the WADD, WPA, and American Psychiatric Association.
Potenza is being honored for his research and global leadership. Members of the Awards Evaluation Committee wrote that Potenza represents “one of the opinion leaders who (has) best contributed to the development of dual disorders and the impact of this concept on people suffering from addictions and other mental disorders.”
Potenza’s research has focused on the neurobiology and treatment of substance and non-substance addictions and other disorders characterized by impaired impulse control. He has focused on internet use behaviors and disorders such as gaming disorder and problematic pornography use, as well as compulsive sexual behavior disorder, binge eating disorder, and food addiction. He has investigated mechanisms underlying the treatment of cocaine and opioid use disorders, as well as the neural correlates of prenatal cocaine use.
Much of this work has focused on understanding clinical and neurobiological underpinnings of these disorders and experiences, and their co-occurrences with other mental health disorders, to advance prevention and treatment strategies.
Potenza, who leads the Division of Addiction Research in Yale’s Department of Psychiatry, is also director of the Center of Excellence in Gambling Research at Yale, the Yale Program for Research on Impulsivity and Impulse Control Disorders, and the Women and Addictive Disorders Core of Women’s Health Research at Yale.
Nationally and internationally, he has consulted to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, the National Registry of Effective Programs, the National Institutes of Health, the American Psychiatric Association, and the World Health Organization on matters of addiction.
The award will be presented to Potenza during the opening ceremony of the WPA Congress in Prague on October 5, 2025.