Dr Gonzalez is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Psychiatry Department of the University of Illinois, Chicago. His research broadly examines the interplay of neurocognitive functions, drugs of abuse, and risky behaviors, often with participants with or at risk for HIV and/or Hepatitis C. These topics are linked by their frequent co-occurrence and an overlap in brain systems implicated in drug addiction and risky behaviors, as well as changes that may occur to these systems through the specific actions of drugs of abuse and other comorbid medical disorders (i.e., HIV and HCV). Through his research, Dr Gonzalez aims to identify neurocognitive vulnerabilities that may place persons at risk for substance use disorders and inform interventions designed to reduce drug addiction and the risky behaviors that may contribute to the spread of HIV.

Ongoing research efforts aim to delineate neurocognitive vulnerabilities for development of substance use disorders; neurocognitive impairments that may result from dependence on substances of abuse; neurocognitive processes associated with drug addiction (e.g., decision making, disinhibition, and other executive functions); neurocognitive interactions between HIV and substance use disorders; and the relationship between neurocognitive functioning and risky behaviors.

Dr Gonzalez is currently funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse [National Institutes of Health] to develop programmatic research examining the role of neurocognitive disinhibition in the development and maintenance of cannabis addiction, as part of a Career Development award.

Dr Gonzalez is part of the HIV and Addictions Neuroscience Group. He is also a licensed clinical psychologist, whose expertise is in conducting neuropsychological assessments with adult patients, in both English and Spanish.

For a list of funded studies and links to publications, please see Dr Gonzalez's CV.