Barbara C. Sorkin, Ph.D., joined the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements (ODS) as the Director of the Botanical Research Centers Program in October 2011.
Before moving to ODS, Dr. Sorkin was responsible for administering extramural research in the areas of healthy aging, cancer, and sleep at NIH’s National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health (NCCIH), formerly the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine, where she had worked since 2003. She also coordinated NCCIH’s Developmental Centers for Research on Complementary and Alternative Medicine (CAM), Partnerships for CAM Clinical and Translational Research, and Centers of Excellence for Research on CAM Programs.
Prior to joining NIH, Dr. Sorkin was on the faculty at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California, and at the Forsyth Institute in Boston, Massachusetts, where she was a successful NIH grant applicant.
Dr. Sorkin has authored research reviews and original research papers in many areas ranging from cell adhesion molecule structure to the health effects of dietary supplements.
Dr. Sorkin received her B.S. and M.S. from the Molecular Biophysics and Biochemistry Department at Yale University and her Ph.D. from the Department of Developmental and Molecular Biology at the Rockefeller University, where she was appointed Assistant Professor prior to moving to Scripps. Her research focused on the molecular structures, biological functions, and molecular biology of cell-cell adhesion molecules belonging to the immunoglobulin superfamily and the cadherin family.