John J. Curtin, Ph.D.
Principal Investigator, Addiction Research Center (ARC), UW Department of Psychology
Dr. Curtin is a clinical psychologist whose research seeks to understand addiction and the processes that underlie craving, use, and relapse.
This research tries to answer important public health questions, such as:
- Who is at greatest risk to experience problems with their drug use?
- Can we identify and help people before they experience problems related to drug use?
- Why do people find drug use rewarding, and why is it so difficult for some people to stop using even after experiencing problems?
- Can we develop precise drug relapse risk prediction to allow for “just-in-time” interventions that can help people before a lapse occurs?
To answer these questions we have studied hundreds of participants, both recreational drug or alcohol users with no history of problems, as well as persons who have problems with alcohol or drugs, and also those in recovery from their use. We have studied the use and addiction of alcohol, marijuana, and most recently, opioids. Dr. Curtin and the other Center staff and scientists have published over 50 articles on this research over the last 15 years.
We are now using the power of mobile technology (smartphones) to identify experiences, behaviors, social interactions, and physiology during peoples’ normal day-to-day activities that may help answer these questions.
All of this work is grounded in a well-developed theoretical framework. Our work is also impactful because it crosses translational boundaries from the laboratory to the clinic and day-to-day lives of patients. Our research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIAAA, NIDA, NCI and NIMH) continuously since 1998.