Robert A. Zucker, director of the University of Michigan Addiction Research Center, will receive the 2010 Research Society on Alcoholism Distinguished Researcher Award — the group’s highest honor, according to a June 15 announcement.

Zucker has directed the Michigan Longitudinal Study — which tracks the alcohol and other drug use histories of 2,200 people in 460 families — for the past 26 years, as well as conducting research into gene-based environmental relationships and the neural circuitry underlying addiction risk. He also has been active in research training and policy development around addictive disorders.

“Dr. Zucker has created and sustained a vibrant body of investigative work focused on substance abuse, surely one of the most important and ubiquitous challenges that faces our global society,” said Gregory Dalack, M.D., associate professor of psychiatry and chair of the department of psychiatry at the University of Michigan. “He is a generative scientist with a truly translational focus, and has mentored a substantial portion of the next generation of investigators in this field, both in the US and in Eastern Europe. The RSA Distinguished Researcher Award is wonderful recognition of his work.”