Kathryn A. Cunningham, Ph.D., serves as the Chauncey D. Leake Distinguished Professor of Pharmacology, the director of the UTMB Center for Addiction Research, and the vice chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Cunningham is known as a mentor and a world leader in cutting-edge research in neuropsychopharmacology. She has pioneered the investigation of complex interactions among behavior, neurobiology and drug abuse.