Congratulations to Professor Pete Hatemi on receiving the Center for Global Studies (CGS) International Research Travel Award for his project, “The Role of Pharmacological Treatments on Social and Political Values.” This project will focus on how politics have replaced race, class and religion as the most important aspect of identity in advanced democracies, and the main source of social conflict. A definitive body of research finds that biological mechanisms underly political orientations. There is however, almost no research exploring the role of pharmacological interventions on the public’s personality, values and identities. This is a critical absence given that 16-25% of the public in advanced democracies are medicated for some psychological condition. It is in the public interest to identify how prescription drugs lead to long-term changes in one’s character that may affect the rest of their lives. Through this grant award and college and department support Professor Hatemi will investigate these phenomena at Queensland Institute of Medical Research in Brisbane Australia.
