Scientific Achievement Awards

Recognizing outstanding contributions to the study of gambling disorders, the Scientific Achievement Awards have proven to be a highlight of the NCRG’s annual Conference on Gambling and Addiction since their creation in 2002. 

The NCRG Scientific Achievement Awards may include:

  • Research investigators at any stage in their career whose research has made significant contributions to the knowledge base about gambling disorders
  • Educators who have successfully mentored young investigators in the field or have excelled at promoting public awareness and education about gambling disorders and responsible gaming
  • A recent publication in a scientific, peer-reviewed journal that represents a seminal work in the field

To view a list of NCRG Scientific Achievement Award winners, visit our past winners webpage.

2016 Scientific Achievement Award Winner

Donald W. Black, MD

Professor of Psychiatry

Director, Psychiatry Residency Training

Vice Chair for Education, Department of Psychiatry

University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine

 

The NCRG is pleased to recognize Dr. Donald Black with the 2016 Scientific Achievement Award for his outstanding contributions to the field of gambling disorder. He has a long and distinguished career as a gambling-focused researcher beginning in the 1990s when he pioneered the clinical aspects of the disorder, the links between disordered gambling behavior and OCD and the pharmacological treatment of gambling addiction.

At that time, Dr. Black also began work on the familial aspects of gambling disorder, one of the most labor-intensive and difficult areas of research. His groundbreaking work on the family history of individuals with gambling problems made an immense contribution to our understanding of the disorder and led to a major grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. Dr. Black was one of the first NCRG-funded investigators to secure funding from the National Institutes of Health to expand a study seeded by NCRG.

Dr. Black blazed other new paths in the search to understand the nature of gambling disorder and how to treat it. He has conducted clinical trials of various medications for gambling problems and explored the impact of other health problems, such as personality disorders and obesity, on gambling disorder. In addition to the more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. Black has authored, co-authored and edited many significant books including, with Jon E. Grant, DSM-5 Guidebook: The Essential Companion to the Diagnostic and

Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (2014).

In spite of his many responsibilities as a researcher, clinician and educator, Dr. Black always makes time to promote public education and awareness of gambling disorder. For the NCRG, he has served tirelessly as a grant reviewer and presenter on webinars and at conferences. Most recently, Dr. Black participated in the 2016 State of the Science meeting conducted by the NCRG. As always, the NCRG is grateful for his continuing efforts to help disordered gamblers through the most rigorous research and evidence-based programming.

 

 

 

 
 

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