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Faculty by area of expertise 
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Thomas Eissenberg
Professor, director of Clinical Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory, and director of Biopsychology Program
www.has.vcu.edu/psy/biopsy/behpharm
Contact information
Phone: (804) 827-4617
E-mail: teissenb@vcu.edu
Education
Ph.D. (1994) McMaster University, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Program affiliation
Biopsychology
Research interests
My area of research is the behavioral pharmacology of drugs of abuse, aiming to understand better the phenomenon of drug dependence. Dependent measures include amount, frequency and duration of drug self-administration and subjective reports of drug effects. Current research involves understanding how gender, pharmacologic and associative factors influence tobacco use, developing laboratory methods that can predict if potential reduced exposure products for tobacco users will actually reduce tobacco-related disease and death, and studying the effects of smoking tobacco through a waterpipe. My work is supported by National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Cancer Institute and Fogarty International Center.
Selected publications
Buchhalter, A.R., Acosta, M.C., Evans, S.E., Breland, A.B., Eissenberg, T. (2005). Tobacco abstinence symptom suppression: the role played by the smoking-related stimuli that are delivered by denicotinized cigarettes. Addiction. 100, 550-559.
Maziak, W., Ward, K.D., Afifi Soweid, R.A., Eissenberg, T. (2004). Tobacco smoking using a waterpipe: a re-emerging strain in a global epidemic. Tobacco Control. 13, 327-333.
Eissenberg, T. (2004). Measuring the emergence of tobacco dependence: the contribution of negative reinforcement models. Addiction. 99 (Suppl 1), 5-29.
Breland, A.B., Acosta M.C., and Eissenberg, T. (2003). Tobacco-specific nitrosamines and potential reduced exposure products for smokers: a preliminary evaluation of Advance™. Tobacco Control. 12, 317-321
Eissenberg, T., and Balster, R.L. (2000). Initial tobacco use episodes in adolescents: current knowledge, future directions. Drug and Alcohol Dependence. 59 (Suppl 1), S41-S60.
Recent/current courses taught at VCU
- Grant Writing, graduate level
| Recent grants |
| NCI (R01 CA103827), “Clinical models for evaluating PREPs for tobacco users.” Start date: February, 2004. Duration: 5 years. Direct costs: $1,455,400. Principal Investigator. |
| NIDA (R01 DA11082), “Drug craving: pharmacologic and associative influences.” Start date: July, 2002. Duration: 5 years. Direct costs: $1,250,000. Principal Investigator. |
| Fogarty International Center (R01 TW005962), “Establishment of the Syrian Center for Tobacco Studies.” Start date: July, 2002. Duration: 5 years. Direct costs: $1,187,767. Co-Investigator. |
| Recent awards |
| Joseph Cochin Young Investigator Award, College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 2005 |
| VCU’s College of Humanities and Sciences Excellence in Scholarship Award, 2002 |
| Sponsored student grants |
| NIDA, (F31 DA018447), “Does puff topography measurement alter smoking behavior?” (M. Blank, PI). Start date: September, 2004. Duration: 3 years. |
| NIDA, (F31 DA017437), “Tobacco abstinence-induced cognitive decrements.” (B. A. Kleykamp, PI). Start date: September, 2003. Duration: 4 years. |
| NIDA, (F31 DA015570), “Evaluating Risk Reduction Products for Smokers.” (A. Breland, PI). Start date: August, 2002. Duration: 3 years. |
| NIDA, (F31 DA006052), “Gender and Nicotine Withdrawal – A Placebo Control Study.” (A.R. Buchhalter, PI). Start date: August, 2000. Duration: 2 years. |