John David Sinclair, Ph.D

David Sinclair, PhD, began research on the causes of alcohol drinking as a University of Cincinnati undergraduate. Among his discoveries was the Alcohol Deprivation Effect (ADE)–now widely recognized by addiction medicine as a central to explaining why the vast majority of alcoholics relapse after traditional abstinence–based treatments. In other words, weeks of forced abstinence–as used in conventional detoxification and detention treatments–instead of being beneficial, actually increase alcohol craving. After getting his doctorate in 1972 from the University of Oregon on the ADE, Dr Sinclair immediately went to Helsinki to work at Alko Laboratories (now part of Finland’s National Public Health & Welfare Institute)–probably the best place in the world for finding a better treatment for alcoholism. His solution, pharmacological extinction, became apparent only after he wrote The Rest Principle: A Neurophysiological Theory of Behavior, a book showing how the nervous system strengthens behaviors that stop hunger, thirst, pain, or release endorphins, and extinguishes behaviors that no longer produce reinforcement. He subsequently worked on the clinical trials proving the concept and practical implementation of the treatment in real patients.

John David Sinclair, Ph.D

He graduated from Fairmont Senior High School, attended Carnegie Tech University, got his bachelor’s degree from the University of Cincinnati, and his master’s degree and Ph.D. from the University of Oregon in psychology, doing research on alcoholism and the functioning of the brain. His book, “The Rest Principle,” was published in 1981. After graduation in 1972, he moved to Helsinki, Finland, and worked in the ALKO Laboratories to continue his quest to find a new treatment for alcoholism. His work helped create many alcohol treatment clinics around the world.