Tom Ungerleider , RIP

Tom Ungerleider

I was lucky to interview Tom in the early 1970s as part of a DEA research contract that helped me understand the US drug policy structure. (At the time I drafted that research contract proposal, I was a 'wet behind the ears' Instructor at the University of Minnesota College of Pharmacy, and it helped sustain me through both my master of science studies and my PhD studies. I came away with a serious pessimism about learning anything definitive from analyses of already-gathered data, and a commitment to gather my own data. The search for definitive evidence and understanding must include analysis of already gathered data, but do not count on analyses of already gathered data to win you anything more than a seat testifying before the US Congress as the highest honor. Hard to speak definitively on any subject if all you do is analyze hard-won data that comes from protocols you did not design to 'sing' to the research question you seek to answer.)

Some notes on Tom and his contributions to our field:

Life history information

Bias and cannabis research

Drugs and adolescents

PubMed trace of his work over the years

On some occasions, we learn from a short interaction with an important field leader.
My interaction with Professor Ungerleider was a short one.
I called him on the telephone, set up the interview appointment, and flew out to meet him, returning with notes and valuable insights about how the DEA and FDA do and do not work together.
But the most profound insight involves compassion coupled with science.
Compassion for people using drugs and the use of science to harness the energy of that compassion in the direction of 'betterment'.
Thanks to Tom Ungerleider for what he taught me on that important front.