#673: Dr. Nora Volkow — Director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA)

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Nora D. Volkow, MD, is Director of the National
Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) at the National Institutes of
Health. NIDA is the world’s largest funder of scientific research
on the health aspects of drug use and addiction. Dr. Volkow's
work has been instrumental in demonstrating that drug addiction
is a brain disorder. As a research psychiatrist, Dr. Volkow
pioneered the use of brain imaging to investigate how substance
use affects brain functions. In particular, her studies have
documented how changes in the dopamine system affect the
functions of brain regions involved with reward and self-control
in addiction. She has also made important contributions to the
neurobiology of obesity, ADHD, and aging.


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[06:09] Cadaver homework.


[09:07] The Trotsky connection.


[17:07] How Nora’s father viewed the role of science.


[20:59] Julian Villarreal.


[27:38] A perspective of perseverance.


[33:48] Instilling perseverance in younger scientists.


[35:08] Dancing with Demerol.


[40:05] The current state of addiction in the US.


[44:28] The War on Drugs.


[49:42] Increasing societal confidence in therapeutic
psychedelics.


[55:38] Advice for researchers seeking more federal funding.


[1:02:12] Gauging the value of the hallucinogenic experience.


[1:06:04] Implications for multiple applications of one compound.


[1:13:36] Transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and a promising
alternative.


[1:19:49] New hope for Parkinson’s disease sufferers?


[1:23:51] Comorbidities, addiction considerations, and other
parting thoughts.


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Grasse Tyson, Jocko Willink, Daniel Ek, Kelly
Slater, Dr. Peter Attia, Seth Godin, Howard
Marks, Dr. Brené Brown, Eric Schmidt, Michael
Lewis, Joe Gebbia, Michael Pollan, Dr. Jordan
Peterson, Vince Vaughn, Brian Koppelman, Ramit
Sethi, Dax Shepard, Tony Robbins, Jim
Dethmer, Dan Harris, Ray Dalio, Naval
Ravikant, Vitalik Buterin, Elizabeth
Lesser, Amanda Palmer, Katie Haun, Sir Richard
Branson, Chuck Palahniuk, Arianna Huffington, Reid
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Thiel, Dr. Gabor Maté, Anne Lamott, Sarah
Silverman, Dr. Andrew Huberman, and many more.


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