Dr. Charles R. Schuster came to Wayne State University School of Medicine in 1995 to take responsibility for forming a substance abuse research center. He had recently left his position as Director of the National Institute for Drug Abuse, National Institute for Health (NIH) where he had served for the prior 8 years under then President Clinton.
While at WSU Dr. Schuster was very successful in establishing a unit that specialized in human drug abuse research that also provided excellent clinical care. Dr. Elizabeth Corby began her post-doctoral work under mentors Dr. Schuster and his wife Dr. Chris-Ellyn Johanson in 1996 at the clinical research division on substance abuse.
In 1997, Dr. Corby became an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience, where she continued to work with Dr. Schuster until 2000 when she left to become a senior staff psychologist at Henry Ford Hospital’s chemical dependency treatment program, Maplegrove center.
According to Dr. Schuster’s obituary:
“By the time Dr. Schuster came to WSU he had already built up an impressive resume of accomplishments in the research and treatment of addition, particularly related to opioid addiction. The university offered him an opportunity to work with addict patients. Bob developed a strong research group embracing pharmacology, psychology and psychiatry with collaborative relations with a number of colleagues in these disciplines.”
Dr. Corby feels very fortunate to have spent part of her career working with Drs. Schuster and Johanson, and has many fond memories of their work together. Dr. Schuster was a giant on whose shoulders many of us stand, and he will be deeply missed.