C. Robert Cloninger named AAAS fellow for psychiatric work
C.Robert Cloninger, M.D., has been named a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). The association gives this honor to members who make distinguished advances in science.
He is the Wallace Renard Professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for the Psychobiology of Personality. He also is a professor of genetics and the former head of the Department of Psychiatry.
Cloninger is being honored for contributions to the biological and genetic basis of psychiatry, with particular reference to alcoholism and personality disorders. By studying adoptees, he made discoveries about the relative influences of genetics and environmental factors in the development of alcoholism and personality.
These studies allowed Cloninger to identify two types of alcoholism. In Type 1, the more prevalent, drinking begins in early adulthood and causes medical problems in later life. Both genetics and environmental factors contribute to Type 1 alcoholism. In Type 2, which most often occurs in men and often in criminals, genetic tendencies are the primary cause.
Cloninger also has investigated the genetic epidemiology of alcoholism and several other psychiatric illnesses, including schizophrenia and personality disorders. In researching the genetic and environmental causes of the various disorders, he has studied patients from the United States, the former Soviet Union, Italy, Japan and the Scandinavian countries.
Cloninger's theories on the genetics of personality recently were bolstered by the discovery of a gene linked to novelty-seeking personality.
Cloninger is one of 273 people who will be elected to the rank of AAAS fellow during the organization's annual meeting in February.
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