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Dr. Miranda is an associate professor (research) in the Department of Psychiatry & Human Behavior. He leads a research program that focuses on how biobehavioral mechanisms that confer liability for addiction influence treatment responsiveness. Most of this work focuses on adolescents. The overarching goal of this program is to translate findings from the human laboratory to improve treatment initiatives. He joined the faculty at Brown University in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS) in 2004. An innovative methodological strategy employed across much of his work involves the systematic pairing of experimentally-controlled human laboratory paradigms with ecological momentary assessment, whereby research participants use handheld electronic diaries to monitor their behavior as well as sensitivity to alcohol and other drugs in real time in their natural environment. Through a career development award funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), he developed expertise in pharmacotherapy research. At present, his research program is conducting two of the first federally-funded medication trials for adolescents with alcohol and drug problems. He has received funding for this work from NIAAA, the National Institute on Drug Abuse, and the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. A major outcome of these studies will be to learn whether medication-induced changes in craving or sensitivity to alcohol or cannabis lead to reductions in adolescent substance use. Understanding adolescents' sensitivity to the acute intoxicating effects of these drugs and how medications affect this phenomenon will bridge an important translational gap between animal models and the clinical field.

Dr. Miranda has served on several NIH scientific review committees and co-chaired the program committee for 2010 meeting of the Research Society on Alcoholism, an organization with more than 1600 members from countries throughout the world. He is a member of the teaching faculty at the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies and has mentored many pre- and postdoctoral trainees.

Download Robert Miranda Jr.'s Curriculum Vitae in PDF Format