Biography
Dr. Schuckit got a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin, an M.D. from Washington University, interned at Cedars Sinai Medical Center, and was a resident in psychiatry at Washington University and UCSD. He was a special advisor to the Commanding Officer of the Naval Health Research Center, and the first Director of the Alcohol and Drug Institute, University of Washington (1975-1978). He returned to San Diego as Professor and Director of the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program, University of California, San Diego and the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

Research Focus
Dr. Schuckit’s major focus is alcohol and drugs. He was Chair of the DSM-IV substance disorders workgroup and has published papers about the optimal diagnostic criteria for substance use disorders. Regarding the genetics of alcoholism, he has carried out adoption studies, identified a genetic characteristic that impacts on elevated alcoholism risk (the low level of response to alcohol), and is now searching for related genes. He is currently completing a 20-year follow-up (97% success rate) of sons of alcoholics where he is trying to identify environmental events that might relate to whether biological predisposition toward alcohol dependence is expressed. An additional research area is co-morbidity between substance use disorders and major psychiatric conditions.

Clinical Focus
Dr. Schuckit directs the Alcohol and Drug Treatment Program at the VA San Diego Healthcare System, supervising residents, medical students and staff. He is also a major contact person regarding alcohol and drug problems in faculty and staff at UCSD and the San Diego VA. Additional clinical interests include the treatment of depressive disorders, anxiety conditions, and geriatric psychiatric populations.

Selected Publications

• Barnow, S., Schuckit, M., Smith, T.L., et al. The relationship between the family density of alcoholism and externalizing symptoms among 146 children. Alcohol 37:383-387, 2002.
• Schuckit, M.A. Vulnerability factors for alcoholism, in Neuropsychopharmacology: The Fifth Generation of Progress, Chapter 98, pp. 1399-1411, Kenneth Davis (ed.), Lippincott Williams & Wilkins Co., Baltimore, 2002.
• Schuckit, M.A., Smith, T.L. The relationships of a family history of alcohol dependence, a low level of response to alcohol and six domains of life functioning to the development of alcohol use disorders. J. Stud. Alcohol 61:827-835, 2000.
• Schuckit, M.A., Edenberg, H.J., Kalmijn, J., et al. A genome-wide search for genes that relate to a low level of response to alcohol. Alcohol Clin Exp Res 25:323-329, 2001.
• Schuckit, M.A., Mazzanti, C., Smith, T.L., et al. Selective genotyping for the role of 5-HT2A , 5-HT2C , and GABA6 receptors and the serotonin transporter in the level of response to alcohol: a pilot study. Biol Psychiatry 45:647-651, 1999.