Last updated on: 10/23/2009 | Author: ProCon.org

Harriet de Wit, PhD Biography

Title:
Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago
Position:
Con to the question "Should Marijuana Be a Medical Option?"
Reasoning:

“[T]he effects of smoked marijuana on emesis were mild. Marijuana had a modest effect on nausea, queasiness and emesis in this model of nausea induced by syrup of ipecac. The comparison drug, ondansetron, totally eliminated both the subjective feelings of nausea and the emesis. These findings confirm clinical reports that smoked marijuana can reduce nausea, but relative to the potent effects of ondansetron and because of its psychoactivity, its usefulness in the clinical setting is likely to be limited.”

Cowritten with Anna H.V. Söderpalm and Alyson B. Schuster, “Antiemetic Efficacy of Smoked Marijuana,” Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, Feb. 12, 2001
Involvement and Affiliations:
  • Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, University of Chicago, 1981-present
  • Member, Scientific Advisory Board, Alcohol Research Center, Oregon Health Sciences University, 2007-present
  • Member, International Society of Addiction Journal Editors, 2006-present
  • Member, Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, 2004-present
  • Mentor, Summer Research Program, Pritzker School of Medicine, 2004-present
  • Deputy Editor, Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, 2003-present
  • Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, 2003
  • Member, Society for Neuroscience, 2002-present
  • Fellow, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 2000
  • Member, Board of Directors, Research Society on Alcoholism, 1999-2003
  • Member, Board of Directors, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 1997-2000
  • Member, Brain Research Institute, University of Chicago, 1996-present
  • Fellow, American Psychological Association (Division 28), 1995-present
  • Field Editor, Psychopharmacology, 1992-present
Education:
  • PhD, Experimental Psychology, Concordia University (Canada), 1981
Other:
  • Registered Psychologist, State of Illinois
  • Recipient, Marian W. Fischman Memorial Lectureship Award, 2009
  • Elected Member, Council of the University of Chicago Senate, 2008-present
  • Member, Faculty Advisory Committee of the Biostatistics Core Facility, 2007-present
  • Member, Faculty of 1000, 2004-present
  • Recipient, Solvay Award for Outstanding Basic Psychopharmacological Research in Affective Disorders, 1999
Quoted in:
  1. Is Marijuana an Effective Treatment for Reducing Nausea and Vomiting from Chemotherapy?