Dr. Alan Frazer received a Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Pennsylvania. He remained on the faculty there, both in the departments of psychiatry and pharmacology, and as a Research Scientist in the Department of Veterans Affairs. He left to join the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio as Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and continues his association as a Research Scientist with the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Frazer’s primary research interest is the mechanism of action of antidepressant drugs. Current projects in his laboratory include examining studies of brain circuitry and mechanisms involved in the rapid and sustained antidepressant effects of novel drugs that reproduce ketamine’s beneficial effects without having its adverse effects.
Dr. Frazer is a member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and has served as its Secretary and President. He is also a member of the American Society of Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology (CINP), and the Society for Neuroscience. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the official journal of the CINP, the International Journal of Neuropsychopharmacology and is also a Councilor of the CINP. His is a member of the Scientific Council of the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation (formerly NARSAD).