In Memoriam: George Fein, Ph.D.
NIAAA and the addiction research community mourn the passing of Dr. George Fein, a distinguished investigator in the field of neurobehavioral research. Dr. Fein was renowned as an innovative researcher who applied neurotechnology, neuroimaging, and behavioral assessments to advance our understanding of the impacts of aging, alcohol and other substance use disorders, and psychiatric disorders on brain structure and function.
Dr. Fein was a long-time faculty member in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Francisco and the San Francisco VA Medical Center. Following his career in academic medicine, Dr. Fein founded and served as president and Chief Executive Officer of Neurobehavioral Research, Inc.
Dr. Fein made many scientific contributions to the alcohol field, including the pivotal finding that treatment for and recovery from alcohol use disorder are associated with compensatory functional network alterations in the brain. Dr. Fein received grants from NIAAA for more than thirty years, as well as funding from NIDA, NIMH, and NIA.
Dr. Fein published nearly 200 research articles, served on several scientific advisory boards, and mentored over 40 graduates, postgraduates, and junior faculty. In 1989, he received a VA Research Career Scientist Award. In 2014, he was honored by the Research Society on Alcoholism with the Henri Begleiter Excellence in Research Award.
NIAAA Director Dr. F. George Koob commented that Dr. Fein was an outstanding scientist, esteemed colleague, and generous mentor. He will be sorely missed.