U.S. Collaborator: Dr. George Woody, University of Pennsylvania
Dr. Felix Kessler is a professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Forensic Medicine at the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil. He has also served as vice director and coordinator of the Clinical-Biological Research Center of the Alcohol and Drug Research Center, which aims to improve research methodology, train burgeoning scientists, and disseminate knowledge related to substance use and addictive behaviors in Brazil. Kessler reports that his NIDA fellowship gave him “actionable insights into clinical trials, data management, and grant applications, which were instrumental in building a multidisciplinary addiction research program” at the center. For example, “the knowledge gained about neuroimaging during my fellowship has been applied to our studies on the long-term cognitive effects of crack cocaine and alcohol use,” says Kessler.
Currently, his research focuses on factors related to the assessment and therapeutic strategies for drug users and associated psychiatric comorbidities. In addition, he has dedicated himself to the study of forensic medicine and the new fields of technological addictions (e.g., video games, virtual reality) and positive psychiatry. He has made more than 100 contributions related to psychiatry to national and international specialized journals, including manuals and book chapters, on psychotropic drugs, epidemiology and treatment of alcoholism and drug use/abuse, and neurobiological bases of chemical dependency. Kessler notes that the insights gained during his fellowship have also helped him build “a national and multinational addiction treatment network, which aims to advance addiction science while directly improving patient care.”