Dr. Wood received his bachelor's degree in Psychology from the Grinnell College, Iowa, in 1968 and his Masters and Ph.D. degree in Psychology from the University of Rochester in 1975, spending an additional two years as a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Rochester doing research in Behavioral and Pharmacology. He continued as an Assistant Professor of Toxicology at the University of Rochester in the department of Radiation Biology and Biophysics . In 1986, he joined the New York University Department of Environmental Medicine the Medical Center, and returned to the University in 1996 as research associate professor in the department of Obstetrics and Gynecology.
Dr. Wood was elected President of the division of Psychopharmacology of the American Psychological Association in 1991. He was awarded the Centennial Award for Early Career Contribution to the Science Directorate in 1992; the Karl F. Heiser Presidential Award for Advocacy on Behalf of Professional Psychology in 1992 and the NIDA Research Scientist Development Award "Behavioral Pharmacology and Toxicology of Abused Inhalants" by NIH in 1987.
After the serendipitous discovery of chemicals of potential clinical utility in a research program on smoked drugs of abuse, Dr. Wood has directed his efforts to urogynecologic disorders, including voiding dysfunction and pelvic pain. The goal is to refine our understanding of voiding dysfunction and to identify new ways to diagnose and treat these diseases.
Dr. Wood has several patents:
* R.W. Wood, et al. Anhydroecgonine compounds and their use as anticholinergic agents.
US Patent No. 5,552,407. Sept 3, 1996;
US Patent 5,821,249, October 13, 1998.
* R.W. Wood. Antimuscarinic compounds and methods for treatment of bladder diseases.
US 6,482,837, Nov. 19, 2002
http://hdl.handle.net/1802/252
