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• O’Brien

Charles O’Brien, M.D., Ph.D.

Name, Degree: Charles P O’Brien, M.D., Ph.D.
Role(s) in Task Force and Work Group: Chair, Substance-Related Disorders Committee
Institutional Affiliation(s): Philadelphia VA Medical Center/University of Pennsylvania
City, State: Philadelphia, PA

Biographical Sketch:

Charles P. O'Brien, a native of New Orleans, earned M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Tulane University.  He received residency training at Harvard, Tulane, University of London, and University of Pennsylvania in internal medicine, neurology and psychiatry. As Chief of Psychiatry at the Philadelphia VA Medical Center, he was responsible for over 9,000 psychiatric patients.  Despite this large clinical responsibility, he was able to establish and direct a clinical research program that has had a major impact on the treatment of addictive disorders.  His research group has been responsible for numerous discoveries described in over 450 publications that have elucidated basic information on the nature of addiction and improved the results of treatment for addictive disorders.  His work involves discovery of CNS changes involved in relapse, new medications, behavioral treatments and instruments for measuring the severity of addictive disorders.  Many of these discoveries are now utilized in common practice for the treatment of addictive disorders throughout the world.

O'Brien's recent work has focused on a genetic subtype of alcoholism.  A functional allele of the µ opiate receptor predicts response to alcohol and carries an increased risk of both alcoholism and opiate addiction.  O'Brien's group reported a significant improvement in outcome among alcoholics when carriers of this allele are randomized to treatment with the opiate receptor antagonist naltrexone.  This finding was replicated recently by another group.  His group also recently discovered a medication that is effective against cocaine addiction and there is already a preliminary report of a replication.  His work is on the cutting edge of new treatments for addictive disorders.

O'Brien was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1991 and he has received numerous research awards as well as an honorary doctorate from the University of Bordeaux in 1994 and the Nathan B. Eddy award for research on addiction from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence in 2003.  He has been an adviser on drug policy to local and national governments since the 1970s and has chaired or served as member of numerous IOM committees dealing with the science and policy matters of abused drugs and is currently chair of the substance use disorders committee for DSM-V.  O’Brien is past president of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease.  Currently he is Kenneth Appel Professor and Vice-Chair of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, Vice Director of the Institute of Neurological Sciences and Director of the Center for Studies of Addiction.  At the VA medical center, he continues as Director of Research for the Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center.

Uncompensated affiliations with non-profit or advocacy organizations that may have a direct or indirect interest in psychiatric diagnosis, treatment, or the DSM-V :   Three calendar years before  nomination and Each year thereafter through the present calendar year.  (For 2008, activities to date and commitments for remainder of year.)

The two tables below represent Dr.O’Brien’s disclosure of significant interests and affiliations for:  (1) The time period including the 3 years prior to nomination to serve on the DSM-V Task Force; the calendar year in which nomination to the Task Force occurred; through the calendar year in which the nomination was approved; and (2) the time period including the calendar year after approval, and each successive year to the present.

Dr. O’Brien has agreed that, from the time of approval through the publication of DSM-V, projected in 2012, his aggregate annual income derived from industry sources (excluding unrestricted research grants) will not exceed $10,000 in any calendar year.

Disclosure of significant interests including:  Three (3) calendar years before nomination, the calendar year of nomination, through the calendar year of approval to serve on the DSM-V Task Force