Caroline Arout, PhD

Dr. Arout is an Assistant Professor of Clinical Neurobiology (in Psychiatry) and a Research Scientist at the New York State Psychiatric Institute of Columbia University Irving Medical Center. Her interests focus on the intersection of pain and substance use, emphasized by three human laboratory research foci: 1) defining the therapeutic utility of cannabinoids, alone or in combination with other medications, for pain and other indications in the context of their abuse liability, 2) characterizing how cannabis’ therapeutic and abuse-related effects change over time with ongoing use, and; 3) testing medication effects on cannabis’ positive subjective effects, as well as cannabis withdrawal and relapse. Her overarching goal is to identify a more effective, less abuse-prone pharmacological treatment regimen for chronic pain.