Rate My Professor Howard Becker

Howard C. Becker is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and the Department of Neuroscience at the Medical University of South Carolina. He has held this position since 1998. Becker also serves as Director of the Charleston Alcohol Research Center, a role he has occupied since 2012. His academic focus is in addiction science and neuroscience. Additionally, he is a Senior Research Career Scientist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA Medical Center. Becker earned a Master of Science and a Doctor of Philosophy in Physiological Psychology/Psychobiology from Rutgers University. He maintains an active research program centered on alcohol use disorder, with emphasis on mechanisms of binge drinking, withdrawal, and relapse. Becker has produced an extensive body of scholarly work, with over 225 publications that have received more than 9,700 citations. He has contributed to leadership in the field as president of the Research Society on Alcohol. In addition to his academic appointments, Becker directs the administrative core of the Charleston Alcohol Research Center and collaborates on studies examining brain regions and signaling systems involved in alcohol consumption behaviors.

Becker’s career at MUSC has included sustained contributions to understanding the neurobiological basis of alcohol dependence through preclinical and translational research approaches. His work supports efforts to identify new targets for intervention in alcohol use disorder. As a faculty member in the College of Medicine, he participates in training and mentoring activities within the departments of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and Neuroscience. Publicly available information confirms his ongoing roles in research centers and professional societies dedicated to alcohol research.