Floyd Bloom

Floyd Bloom, MD, has served as a member of the Board of Directors since October 2012. Dr. Bloom has been active in neuropharmacology for more than 35 years, holding positions at Yale University, the National Institute of Mental Health, and The Salk Institute. He began his biomedical research career with investigations of the conduction properties of single isolated axons and transitioned to single-neuron pharmacology in the early applications of microiontophoresis. Dr. Bloom was among the first to study neurotransmitter systems at the anatomical, physiological and pharmacological levels beginning with the noradrenergic innervation of the cerebellum and cerebral. He was one of the first neurobiologists to utilize modern molecular biological techniques to identify, functionally characterize, and map brain-specific genes. Recognizing the value of computers in neuroscience, he pioneered their application to neuro-anatomic investigations and the development of neuro-anatomic databases. His work has found considerable applicability to many enigmatic disorders of the nervous system such as the addictive states, the dementias, and the major psychoses. From 1995 to 2000, Dr. Bloom was Editor-in-Chief of SCIENCE. He is a Trustee of Washington University in St. Louis, a founder and Director of Alkermes, Inc., and a consultant to Elan Pharmaceuticals. He earned his MD from Washington University in St. Louis.