Speaker Biosketch for Kratom: A Botanical With Traditional Use in Asia To Treat Pain and Opioid Use Problems

Christopher McCurdy, Ph.D., is a medicinal chemist, behavioral pharmacologist, and pharmacist. He is the Frank A. Duckworth Eminent Scholar Chair in Drug Research and Development and a professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Florida (UF). Dr. McCurdy is also the director of the UF Translational Drug Development Core. An internationally recognized expert on the kratom plant, Dr. McCurdy’s research focuses on the design, synthesis, and development of drugs to treat pain and substance use disorders. Much of his work has involved discovery chemistry with opioid receptors, neuropeptide FF (NPFF) receptors, and sigma receptors. Dr. McCurdy received his Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Georgia and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Minnesota.