Joshua Lile, Ph.D.
Departments of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science
College of Medicine
Department of Psychology
College of Arts & Sciences
University of Kentucky
465 E High Street, Suite 204B
Lexington, KY 40507
Email: jalile2@uky.edu

Dr. Joshua Lile received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from Wake Forest University in 2002. He is currently a tenured Professor in the Departments of Behavioral Science, Psychiatry and Psychology at the University of Kentucky. Dr. Lile’s research focuses on the determinants of drug reinforcement and the development of interventions for substance use disorders, with current projects on cannabis, cocaine and opioids. This work is mainly conducted using human laboratory models, with an emphasis on forward- and backward-translation and the incorporation of complementary preclinical studies. His cannabis research has identified non-cannabinoid neuropharmacological mechanisms of the abuse-related effects of cannabis that informed subsequent medications development studies that evaluated the effects of promising compounds on cannabis choice. Collaborative research in this area is using non-invasive transcranial brain stimulation and neuroimaging to study mechanisms of cannabis intoxication. His cocaine research has established and validated intravenous cocaine self-administration choice procedures in humans and laboratory animals and is using similar methods in a neuroimaging environment to study neurobehavioral mechanisms of drug choice within a reinforcement-learning framework. Collaborative research in this area is investigating novel mechanisms of cocaine reinforcement, and whether reduced cocaine use improves various health outcomes. Dr. Lile’s opioid research is also using cross-species drug choice, reinforcement learning and neuroimaging procedures to study the neurobehavioral mechanisms of opioid use disorder.