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 Bad Boys, Bad Men – Confronting Antisocial Personality Disorder (2013) and, 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 has always made 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. The NCRG is grateful for his continuing efforts to help disordered gamblers through the most rigorous research and evidence-based programming.
Thanks to the Selection Committee for this year’s award:
Gloria Miele, PhD
Instructor of Psychology
Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons
Lisa Najavits, PhD
Professor of Psychiatry
Boston University School of Medicine
Katherine Spilde, PhD, MBA
Chair, Sycuan Institute on Tribal Gaming and Associate Professor
San Diego State University
