Director of the Division of Therapeutics and Medical Consequences at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the United States. He holds a doctorate in Medicine and Surgery, specialising in Psychiatry from the University of Antioquia (Colombia). He was awarded a Fulbright grant and earned a Master’s Degree in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University. He also obtained a postdoctoral fellowship in the Intramural Research Program from the National Institute on Drug Abuse. He leads an extensive research programme that supports the development of pharmacological and non-pharmacological treatments for substance use disorders. He has published extensively in the areas of aetiology, prevention, treatment and medical consequences of drug abuse. He is also an honorary professor at the Universitat de València in the Department of Psychobiology since July 2022.