New President of FRI

FRI is pleased to announce that Dr. Frank Vocci, formerly the Director of the Division of Pharmacotherapies and Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse at the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), has accepted the position of President of FRI. In this position, Dr. Vocci will be responsible for carrying out FRI’s strategic plans and policies, as established by the Board of Directors, and is vested with ultimate operational authority of the organization.

Dr. Vocci is eminently qualified for this undertaking as he has the vision, interpersonal and leadership skills, knowledge, personal network, and management expertise to head FRI, an established, dynamic research institute. He received his B.S. in biological sciences from Loyola College. His graduate studies were concentrated in pharmacology and neuroscience at the University of Maryland at Baltimore. During that time he worked in the Clinical Neurophysiology Laboratory in the Department of Neurology and also volunteered as a staff counselor at the Tuerk House, a residential program for alcohol and drug detoxification. He received post-doctoral training in pharmacology (1977-1978) at the Medical College of Virginia with Drs. William Dewey and Louis Harris. From 1978 to 1989, Dr. Vocci was employed with the Food and Drug Administration in the Drug Abuse Staff in the Division of Neuropharmacological Drug Products. He reviewed drug applications for adequacy of characterization of pharmacology and toxicology, evidence of drug efficacy, and characterization of abuse potential and possible necessity of scheduling of drugs under the Controlled Substances Act. In addition to his duties as an FDA reviewer, Dr. Vocci was also a guest researcher in the Clinical Neurosciences Branch of the National Institute on Mental Health, and an ad hoc consultant to the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the World Health Organization. Since 1989 he has been affiliated with the Medications Development Program at NIDA where he was the Director of the Division of Pharmacotherapies and Medical Consequences of Drug Abuse. In that capacity, he was responsible for overseeing research and development activities in medications development for the treatment of opiate and stimulant abuse and dependence, cannabis dependence, nicotine dependence, and medical consequences of drug abuse. Dr. Vocci has authored or co-authored over 80 articles in the fields of neuropharmacology and substance abuse. In 2001, Dr. Vocci received a Presidential Meritorious Executive Award for his leadership of the treatment research effort at NIDA.

FRI is extremely pleased to welcome Dr. Vocci as its new President and wishes him a prosperous career with the organization.

See article regarding Dr. Vocci’s retirement from NIDA in the News.