Joseph R. Volpicelli (born June 25, 1953) is an American psychiatrist, research scientist, medical academic, and expert in the treatment of addictive disorders.

[1] Throughout his tenure, he served in several capacities including research scientist and associate professor for the department of psychiatry and psychology.

With the support of his mentor, Charles P. O'Brien, and funding from the U.S. Veterans Administration Substance Abuse Center in Philadelphia, Volpicelli found that naltrexone significantly reduced alcohol relapse in recently detoxified alcohol-dependent subjects.

This study was published in the Archives of General Psychiatry in 1992, by Volpicelli with his colleagues Al Alterman, Motoi Hayashida, and Charles P. O'Brien.

Later, March 2001, Volpicelli and co-authors Helen Pettinati, A.Thomas McLellan and Charles P. O'Brien released Combining Medication and Psychosocial Treatments for Addictions: The BRENDA Approach[9].