Iversen, Leslie L. 1937- (L.L. Iversen, Leslie Iversen, Leslie Lars Iversen)

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Iversen, Leslie L. 1937- (L.L. Iversen, Leslie Iversen, Leslie Lars Iversen)

PERSONAL:

Born October 31, 1937, in Exeter, Devon, England; son of Svend (a manager) and Caia (a homemaker) Iversen; married Susan D. Kibble (a university professor), December 9, 1961; children: Ben, Amy. Ethnicity: "Caucasian." Education: Cambridge University, B.A., 1961; Ph.D., 1964. Hobbies and other interests: Reading, gardening.

ADDRESSES:

Home and office—Little Milton, Oxfordshire, England; fax: 44-1844-278067. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER:

Medical Research Council, Cambridge, England, director, 1970-83; Merck Sharp & Dohme Ltd., Harlow, England, research director, 1983-95; University of London, King's College, London, England, affiliate (including director of Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Diseases), 1999-2004. Military service: Royal Navy, Education Branch, 1956-58.

MEMBER:

Royal Society (fellow), U.S. National Academy of Sciences (foreign associate member).

WRITINGS:

The Uptake and Storage of Noradraline in Sympathetic Nerves, Cambridge University Press (Cambridge, England), 1967.

(With wife Susan D. Iversen) Behavioural Pharmacology, Oxford University Press (Oxford, England), 1970, published in the United States as Behavioral Pharmacology, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1975, 2nd edition, 1981.

Stalking the Molecules of Memory (sound recording), American Chemical Society (Washington, DC), 1972.

(Editor, with Steven P.R. Rose) Biochemistry and Mental Illness (conference proceedings), Biochemical Society (London, England), 1973.

(Editor, with Susan D. Iversen and Solomon H. Snyder) Handbook of Psychopharmacology, sixteen volumes, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1975-83.

(Editor, with Peter J. Roberts and Geoffrey N. Woodruff) Satellite Symposium on Dopamine, Raven Press (New York, NY), 1978.

(Editor, with Susan D. Iversen and Solomon H. Snyder) New Techniques in Psychopharmacology, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1982.

(Editor, with Susan D. Iversen and Solomon H. Snyder) Neuropeptides, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1983.

(Editor, with Susan D. Iversen and Solomon H. Snyder) Biochemical Studies of CNS Receptors, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1983.

(Editor, with Susan D. Iversen and Solomon H. Snyder) Drugs, Neurotransmitters, and Behavior, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1984.

(Under name L.L. Iversen; editor, with A. Iggo and F. Cervero) Nociception and Pain (proceedings), Scholium International (Great Neck, NY), 1985.

(Under name L.L. Iversen; editor, with E.C. Goodman) Fast and Slow Chemical Signalling in the Nervous System, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 1986.

(Editor, with Susan D. Iversen and Solomon H. Snyder) New Directions in Behavioral Pharmacology, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1987.

(Editor, with Susan D. Iversen and Solomon H. Snyder) Psychopharmacology of the Aging Nervous System, Plenum Press (New York, NY), 1988.

The Science of Marijuana, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2000, 2nd edition, 2008.

(Under name Leslie Iversen) Drugs: A Very Short Introduction, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2001.

(Under name Leslie Iversen) Speed, Ecstasy, Ritalin: The Science of Amphetamines, Oxford University Press (New York, NY), 2006.

SIDELIGHTS:

Leslie L. Iversen enjoys writing about science. He once told CA that he wants to "transmit some of it to an intelligent lay readership." The areas of science Iversen prefers to explore include psychopharmacology, the study of substances that alter behavior, and the aging process of the human body. As chair of the Research into Aging advisory council and director of the Wolfson Centre for Research on Age-Related Diseases at Kings College, London, Iversen became a respected expert on the aging process. The work that gained Iversen international attention however, is his controversial review of the effects of marijuana on humans.

As a professor in Oxford University's department of pharmacology, Iversen acted as specialist advisor to the British House of Lords Enquiry into Cannabis from 1996 to 1998; he also served in a working party established by the British Academy of Medical Sciences to advise the government on drug policy. Iversen's work is often quoted in controversy-filled debates on the decriminalization of marijuana, but Iversen is not a crusader on one side or the other. As Irene Peirano, pointed out in the Italian newsletter Speciale, "Iversen constantly directs his attention towards obtaining scientific evidence, and towards refraining from taking any ‘political’ position." Iversen writes with a minimum of scientific jargon or technical language for readers who want to know more about the science that underlies the current cannabis debate.