I am currently a Professor in Residence in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego and the Associate Chief of Psychiatry at the San Diego Veterans Affairs Health Care System. My research focuses on the neural basis of decision-making processes and dysfunctions in these processes in individuals with psychiatric disorders. In particular, how decision-making dysfunctions contribute to transition from casual use of drugs to drug dependence and how these dysfunctions contribute to relapse in individuals with stimulant dependence. Moreover, I am interested in the use of functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) as a tool to discover new drugs of psychiatric disorders. I am collaborating with several investigators at UCSD and other institutions to study the neural basis of psychiatric disorders. In particular, I am working with Dr. Marc Schuckit and Dr. Susan Tapert on NIDA supported grants to elucidate these fundamental issues using functional magnetic resonance imaging and simple decision-making tasks. More recently, Dr. Paulus, Schuckit, and Tapert are working on a NIAAA supported project to understand cognitive features and brain systems that differentiate low and high level responders to alcohol, while under the influence of alcohol and without alcohol intoxication. Moreover, I am working with Dr. Murray Stein on an NIMH supported grant to determine decision-making dysfunctions and their underlying neural substrates in individuals with high trait anxiety. The goal of this project is to determine why individuals with high anxiety make risk-averse decisions and how this contributes to their overall level of functioning. More recently, Dr. Stein and I have received support from NIMH to develop fMRI as a tool for the discovery of medications for anxiety. The specific aim of this project is to use fMRI as a bioassay for the development of novel anxiolytic drugs. Specifically, to use blood oxygen dependent (BOLD) and arterial spin labeling (ASL) functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine whether brain activations during emotion processing tasks can be used to predict anxiolytic efficacy of standard anxiolytic agents. With support from the NIMH in collaboration with Dr. William Perry, he is utilizing psychophyiological monitoring equipment to determine whether patients with bipolar disorder show increased activity and whether this increase in activity is successfully treated with antimanic agents.