Marc N. Potenza, MD, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Yale and senior scientist at The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse, will receive the Lifetime Research Award from the National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG).
The award, to be presented July 15, honors a person for extraordinary long-standing achievement in the field of research on problem gambling. The award is given only in exceptional times and circumstances to exemplary individuals with at least 20 years of research in this area.
“Marc has been one of the few true pioneers in the scientific study of problem gambling as an addictive behavior and has been instrumental in getting this serious condition recognized as an addictive disorder by the psychiatric community,” said Samuel A. Ball, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Yale and president and CEO of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse. “He is an international leader, committed to the understanding, prevention and treatment of behavioral addictions, especially gambling, but also Internet gaming and food addiction. His groundbreaking work on gambling has led to significant advances and improved the lives of many patients.”
In addition to his role at the center as senior scientist, Potenza is professor of psychiatry, in the Child Study Center and of neuroscience at Yale, and director of the Center of Excellence in Gambling Research. He is also director at the Yale Program for Research on Impulsivity and Impulse Control Disorders and a director at the Women and Addictive Disorders, Women’s Health Research at Yale. He has also consulted with many national and international organizations on matters of addiction.
Marc has been one of the few true pioneers in the scientific study of problem gambling as an addictive behavior and has been instrumental in getting this serious condition recognized as an addictive disorder by the psychiatric community
Samuel A. Ball, PhD, professor of psychiatry at Yale and president and CEO of The National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse
Honorees were chosen by the NCPG, and will be awarded during the organization’s 30th annual Conference on Problem Gambling, which will take place from July 15-16 in Tarrytown, N.Y. Potenza will be a featured plenary presenter at the conference, where he will discuss developments in treatment.
Recent estimates suggest that about 2 percent of adults and youth in the U.S. are problem gamblers. Additionally, another 6.5 percent of youth are at-risk for a gambling problem.
The National Council on Problem Gambling is the national advocate for problem gamblers and their families.