We are thrilled to welcome Dr. Amy Hauck Newman as our keynote speaker for the 2024 PUNDS symposium. After completing her B.S. in chemistry at Mary Washington College, Dr. Hauck Newman pursued her Ph.D. in medicinal chemistry under the direction of Dr. Richard Glennon at Virginia Commonwealth University. She then completed her post-doctoral training with Dr. Kenner C. Rice at the NIH Laboratory of Medicinal Chemistry. Currently, Dr. Hauck-Newman is the Scientific Director of the NIH National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Within the NIDA, she is chief of the Medicinal Chemistry Section, chief of the Molecular Targets and Medications Discovery Branch, and director of the Medication Development Program. In her independent career she has become a world-renowned expert on the design and synthesis of ligands to study G-protein coupled receptors and monoamine transporters. This expertise has resulted in the discovery of important molecular probes for studying serotonin transport systems and the dopamine D2 receptor family. Being the scientific director of the NIDA Intramural Research Program, Dr. Hauck Newman has successfully leveraged the intramural natural of her research program, combining state of the art chemical synthesis, interpretation of pharmacological data, and computational biophysics. This interdisciplinary approach has helped enable many of the discoveries in the presentation that she will deliver.