1980, MD, Universidad Nacional Autonoma Mexicana,1984 Psychiatry residency, New York University,1996-1998 Chairman, Medical Department, Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), Upton New York, 1999-03, Associate Director for Life Sciences BNL, 1997-2003 Associate Dean School of Medicine, State University of New York (SUNY)-Stony Brook. Former Professor of Psychiatry SUNY.
Since 2003-, Director, National Institute of Drug Abuse. Expert in the neurobiology of motivation and reward and its disruption in addiction, obesity and ADHD and on brain imaging. Fellow, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP). Published over 600 scientific articles and three books.

Recipient of many awards, including: International Prize from INSERM for Science, Paul Aebersold Award from Society of Nuclear Medicine and Joel Elkes International Award for Clinical Research from ACNP. Named one of Time Magazine’s “Top 100 People Who Shape our World” in 2007, and included among 20 people to watch by Newsweek magazine in “Who’s Next in 2007”.