Dr Anna Lembke is a Professor of Psychiatry at Stanford University School of Medicine and Chief of the Stanford Addiction Medicine Dual Diagnosis Clinic. A clinician-scholar, she has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, and commentaries. She serves on the boards of several state and national organisations focused on addiction and has provided expert testimony before committees in both the US House of Representatives and Senate. Through her academic role and public engagement, she works to inform policymakers and the broader public about the causes of addiction and evidence-based solutions.
In 2016, Lembke published Drug Dealer, MD: How Doctors Were Duped, Patients Got Hooked, and Why It’s So Hard to Stop, which was recognised by The New York Times as one of the top five books for understanding the opioid epidemic. The book integrates clinical case studies with insights from public policy, cultural anthropology, and neuroscience to examine the complex dynamics of prescription drug use. Her second book, Dopamine Nation: Finding Balance in the Age of Indulgence, became an instant New York Times and Los Angeles Times bestseller and has been translated into more than 30 languages. It explores the neuroscience of addiction alongside recovery principles to address compulsive overconsumption in modern society.
Lembke also appeared in the Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, which examines the impact of social media on human behavior and well-being.
She earned her undergraduate degree in Humanities from Yale University and her medical degree from Stanford University.
