Li Tapped to Lead National Alcohol Research Effort
Ting-Kai Li, MD, has been on the forefront of research into the
genetic causes of alcoholism for more than three decades at the
IU School of Medicine. He now leads that same effort at the National
Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism in Bethesda, Md.
Dr. Li, IU distinguished professor and former associate dean of
research at IUSM, assumed the directorship of the NIAAA last November,
following his appointment by Tommy Thompson, secretary of the Department
of Health and Human Services.
“There’s so much to be done to protect all Americans
from the tragedy of alcohol abuse and alcoholism,” Thompson
says. “It gives me great pleasure that one of our nation’s
preeminent scientists in alcohol research will be taking the helm
to lead our efforts at the national level.”
In his thirty-one-year career at IUSM, Dr. Li gained international
acclaim for his groundbreaking research in areas including alcohol
metabolism and animal models of alcoholism. Since 1987 Dr. Li has
served as director of the IU Alcohol Research Center, which was
established with a grant from the NIAAA, the main federal agency
supporting research into the etiology, treatment and prevention
of alcoholism.
“T.K.’s contributions to the School of Medicine are
legion and are of inestimable value,” notes D. Craig Brater,
MD, IUSM dean and Walter J. Daly Professor. “He has served
as a mentor, leader and visionary for our School, and we would not
be realizing the success of today without his contributions. He
undoubtedly will have the same impact at the NIAAA and will shape
the future of the field to which he has devoted his career.”
Dr. Li, who was editor of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental
Research, notes that much progress has been made the past twenty
years in scientists’ understanding of genetics, neurobiology
and the behavioral aspects of alcohol abuse and alcoholism. But
the work is far from over.
“I am confident that by diligently expanding the boundaries
of our knowledge we will continue to improve ways to prevent and
treat these important public health problems,” Dr. Li notes.
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