Epidemiology Faculty Receives Prestigious K Award

Dr. Lopez-QuinteroClinical Assistant Professor in Epidemiology Dr. Catalina Lopez-Quintero has received a K01 award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) to investigate drug use-related disparities among Hispanics by exploring the complex interactions between socio-cultural, neurocognitive, and drug use-related factors and potential mechanisms explaining drug use trajectories and outcomes. K awards are extremely competitive and provide financial support to the recipient for five years. This award will allow Dr. Lopez-Quintero to devote time to research while advancing her training. Overseeing her progress is a collection of mentors with specializations ranging from addiction neuroscience to cross-cultural research and drug use disparities to modeling longitudinal data. The K award will help Dr. Lopez-Quintero make a successful transition as an independent scientist and achieve her long-term goals of reducing drug use disparities and fostering new insights regarding the etiology of drug use. Congratulations, Dr. Lopez-Quintero!