Peggy Murray is the Research Director of the Center for Truth in Science, a non-profit organization focused on fact-based science within issues at the intersection of science, economics, and litigation.

Murray will lead the Center’s commissioned independent research projects and grant recipients, and collaborate with scientists and partners to identify emerging issues and ensure the Center’s research projects meet the highest standard of scientific integrity.

Prior to joining the Center, Murray spent 30 years at the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism—part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—where she became a widely known authority on alcohol research and public health outcomes.

She served as supervisory public health advisor and director of the Global Alcohol Research program from 2006 to 2018, where she designed, established, and led national and international initiatives in biomedical, epidemiological, prevention, and treatment research. She represented the NIAAA at two White House conferences during the Obama administration in 2015 and 2016.

Murray has advised at the highest levels, including U.S. Science and Technology committees, NIH, and government-wide initiatives on global health. She has represented the United States in front of several multilateral organizations such as the World Health Organization, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, and National Academies of Sciences committees.

Murray served on the team responsible for conceptualizing, developing and managing the Adolescent Brain and Cognitive Development (ABCD) study, a 10-year prospective study of 10,000+ children that is a collaboration of several NIH institutes and centers. Her work has been published in a variety of books,  government publications, and peer-reviewed academic journals, including Academic Medicine, Journal of Mental Health Administration, Journal of Addictions Nursing, and Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience.

She is a contributing author and co-principal editor of the Routledge Handbook of Social Work and Addictive Behaviors, a major educational resource for the international social work and social science communities. She also created and published two major curricula for alcohol use disorders that have been translated into five languages and implemented in medical schools in eight countries.

From 2014-2021, Murray represented the NIAAA on the coordinating committee for the Collaborative Research on Addictions at NIH (CRAN), which enables collaboration between the National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Cancer Institute, and NIAAA to advance what is known on substance use, abuse, addiction research, and public health outcomes.

Murray earned her doctorate and master’s degree from Catholic University in Washington, D.C., and her bachelor’s degree from St. Mary’s College of Maryland. She also completed a Certificate in Epidemiology and Biostatistics from the Johns Hopkins University School of Public Health.