Catalina Lopez-Quintero, Ph.D., M.D., M.P.H., an assistant professor of epidemiology in the University of Florida College of Public Health and Health Professions and UF College of Medicine, has received the National Award of Excellence in Research by a New Investigator from the National Hispanic Science Network. The award is presented in recognition of outstanding research and/or publication in the field of Hispanic drug abuse.
Lopez-Quintero’s research has focused on disentangling the role that factors, including biological, behavioral, socio-cultural or political, play on the transitions from the early stages of drug use involvement to the development of drug use disorders and other related outcomes. She aims to develop a comprehensive and interdisciplinary insight of the mechanisms that generate and sustain disparities in drug use transitions and trajectories by focusing on the interactions between neuropsychological and socio-cultural and systemic level factors, leading to the design of effective drug use prevention and treatment strategies.
She currently leads a National Institute on Drug Abuse-funded study that is examining drug use disparities among Hispanics to better understand the complex interactions between socio-cultural, neurocognitive and drug use-related factors.