The Medical Advisory Council is made up of some of the world's foremost biomedical experts in neurology, genetics, biochemistry, and cardiology. They evaluate applications requesting financial support for scientific investigations in the biological, physiological, and clinical sciences.

Research projects typically seek to understand the mechanisms underlying the addiction process, such as inheritance of a genetic vulnerability to become alcoholic, neurological process associated with the development of tolerance to and withdrawal from alcohol, and the mechanisms underlying the effects of moderate alcohol consumption.

Robert Messing, M.D.
Professor
Department of Neurology
Associate Director
Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center
University of California, San Francisco

Dr. Messing’s research investigates signaling mechanisms in alcoholism and neurologic disease. His laboratory at the University of California, San Francisco uses genetic methods to generate animal models for the study of neural signal transduction pathways involved in addiction and neurological disorders. Dr. Messing serves on the Editorial Board of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

David W. Crabb, M.D.
Chairman
Department of Medicine
Indiana University School of Medicine

Dr. Crabb's clinical interests are in liver diseases, particularly alcoholic liver disease. His research interests are in the control of alcohol metabolism, genetics of alcoholism, regulation of liver gene expression, and the mechanism for alcoholic liver injury. Dr. Crabb has published over 80 research articles and 30 books and book chapters, and serves on numerous editorial boards.

Fulton T. Crews, Ph.D.
Director
Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies
Professor of Pharmacology and Psychiatry
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Dr. Crews’ research interests include addiction and neurodegeneration, particularly long-term changes in gene expression and structure in brain. He has authored over 170 scientific publications.

Andrew C. Heath, D.Phil.

Spencer T. Olin Professor of Psychology
Department of Psychiatry
Associate Professor of Genetics
Washington University

Dr. Heath’s research focuses on genetic studies of alcoholism, smoking and drug dependence, depression, suicidality and anxiety disorders, personality disorders, and methodological research in genetic epidemiology.  He serves as Director of a new Washington University NIAAA center to study genetic and environmental factors that affect the risk of alcoholism in adolescents and young adults. 

Jan B. Hoek, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Pathology, Anatomy and Cell Biology
Jefferson Medical College
Thomas Jefferson University

Dr. Hoek’s research interests are focused on the analysis of integrated signaling responses in liver and other tissues and on the adaptive or maladaptive modification of these responses by acute and chronic ethanol exposure. He serves on the Editorial Board of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.

Laura E. Nagy, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Medicine
Staff, Departments of Gastroenterology and Pathobiology
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
Lerner Research Institute

Dr. Nagy’s research is aimed at understanding how alcohol consumption contributes to chronic diseases, including liver disease and diabetes. Dr. Nagy was named Young Investigator of the Year by the Research Society on Alcoholism in 1993.

Tamara J. Phillips, Ph.D.
Professor
Department of Behavioral Neuroscience
Oregon Health & Science University

Dr. Phillips’ research interests include both the acute effects of drugs that may influence the ability and desire to seek additional drug exposure, as well as the more chronic effects of drugs that may lead to neuroadaptive changes that influence the perception of drug effects.

C. Fernando Valenzuela, M.D., Ph.D.

Associate Professor
Department of Neurosciences
Director, M.D./ Ph.D. Program
University of Mexico School of Medicine

Dr. Valenzuela’s research focuses on the mechanism of action of neurosteroids and the role of these agents in fetal alcohol syndrome, the effects of ethanol on oscillatory activity in the immature brain, and the effects of alcohol in the function of neuronal circuits in the mature brain.