Drug Policy for the Future

Bertha K. Madras, PhD

Bertha K. Madras, PhD, is a professor of psychobiology at Harvard Medical School, based at McLean Hospital and cross appointed at the Massachusetts General Hospital.

Her research focuses on neurobiology, imaging, and medications development (19 U.S. and 27 international patents) for neuropsychiatric disorders. In public policy, she was deputy director for demand reduction in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, a presidential appointment confirmed unanimously by the U.S. Senate.

Dr. Madras recently served as a panelist at the Vatican Pontifical Academy of Sciences and in 2017, was appointed as one of six members of the President’s Commission on Combating Drug Addiction and the Opioid Crisis. In service to the public, she developed a museum exhibit and a CD (licensed by Disney) with the Museum of Science, Boston. She is recipient of an NIH MERIT award, a NIDA Public Service Award, and others.