Howard J. Shaffer, PhD

Howard J. Shaffer, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School and the Director of the Division on Addictions at The Cambridge Health Alliance, a Harvard Medical School teaching affiliate. He has served as principal or co-principal investigator on many government- and foundation-sponsored research projects.

He also consults internationally with a variety of organizations in business, education, human services and government. Dr. Shaffer is licensed as a clinical psychologist in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and is certified by the National Register of Health Care Providers in Psychology.

Dr. Shaffer is the past editor of The Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. He also was the editor of The Journal of Gambling Studies and past associate editor of The Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. Dr. Shaffer has served as a member of many editorial boards, including the Journal of Psychoactive Drugs; Advances in Alcohol and Substance Abuse; and The Psychology of Addictive Behaviors, Sexual Addiction and Compulsivity. Dr. Shaffer has served as an ad hoc reviewer for many journals, including the New England Journal of Medicine and the Archives of General Psychiatry. Dr. Shaffer’s research, writing and teaching have shaped how the health care field conceptualizes and treats the full range of addiction and its many expressions.

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