Sari Izenwasser, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. She received her B.A. in Psychology in 1980 from Florida International University and M.A. and Ph.D. (1987) in Psychology from Boston University. Dr. Izenwasser did a postdoctoral fellowship at Louisiana State University Medical School followed by a Research Assistantship at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences. Subsequently, she joined the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) Intramural Research Program, where she was awarded a National Research Council Fellowship followed by a Senior Staff Fellowship. Her research is focused on studying factors that mediate the effects of stimulants, cannabinoids, nicotine, and opioids on behavior and neurochemistry in adolescents. Her research has concentrated on age and sex differences in response to substances that are misused, with a focus on adolescence. She has over 120 publications on the behavioral and neurochemical effects of drugs that are misused. Dr. Izenwasser was awarded with the Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in 1999, and later served on the Board of Directors of the organization. Currently, she is a Fellow in both of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.
