Program Officer
Ivana Grakalic, Ph.D.
Focus Area
Biographical Summary
Dr. Grakalic is a program director in the Division of Neuroscience and Behavior (DNB) at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). Since joining NIAAA in 2007, Dr. Grakalic has promoted and expanded the basic behavioral research program within DNB by developing initiatives on learning and motivational aspects of alcohol use disorder (AUD).
Dr. Grakalic is NIAAA’s liaison to NIH Basic Behavioral and Social Science Opportunity Network (OppNet), contributing to development, implementation, and dissemination of various behavioral initiatives. In addition to promoting basic behavioral research, Dr. Grakalic participates in several trans-NIH initiatives, including the NIH Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® (BRAIN) Initiative, the NIH Blueprint for Neuroscience Research, and the NIH Helping to End Addiction Long-term® ( HEAL) Initiative. She has promoted research programs in polysubstance use/misuse and AUD and co-occurring psychiatric conditions.
Dr. Grakalic has also promoted women’s health research within NIAAA and trans-NIH. She is NIAAA’s liaison to the Office of Research on Women's Health (ORWH), a member of the NIH Coordinating Committee on Research on Women’s Health (CCRWH), and a member of the NIH-Wide Sex as a Biological Variable (SABV) Working Group. She was the co-Editor for a special issue of Alcohol Research: Current Reviews dedicated to research on alcohol-related sex differences across a spectrum of outcomes and measures including cognition, psychiatric comorbidities, cancer, cardiovascular disease and sleep disorders.
Dr. Grakalic contributes significantly to NIH’s effort to diversify the scientific workforce and expand recruitment and retention. She served as the co-Chair of NIAAA Alcohol Research Centers and Training (C&T) Working Group and is currently the co-Team Lead of the BRAIN Initiative Team TIE (Training, Inclusion, and Equity) dedicated to training and career development efforts across NIH.
Dr. Grakalic received her Ph.D. degree in psychology/behavioral neuroscience from American University in Washington, DC. Her postdoctoral training at the Preclinical Pharmacology Section, Intramural Research Program at National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) in Baltimore, MD focused on the role of stress and learning mechanisms in preclinical models of the rewarding and aversive effects of drugs of abuse.