Edythe London

Dr. London obtained her Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of Maryland and completed her postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine; she was the Director of the Brain Imaging Center at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), and held faculty appointments at the University of Maryland and Johns Hopkins School of Medicine prior to coming to UCLA in 2001. Dr. London is currently a distinguished professor-in- residence in the Departments of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, and Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA. Her research uses of multi-modal imaging [structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), and positron emission tomography (PET)] to study neural circuitry underlying impulsivity, self-control, and behaviors related to addiction and substance abuse. Dr. London was recently awarded (co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Kate Taylor) an NIH grant investigating cannabis use in adolescents. Adolescence and young adulthood represents a developmental period in which the regulation of negative emotions is still being developed, as well as a time when cannabis use is prevalent and cannabis use disorders onset. Developing and evaluating cannabis use disorder interventions that emphasize the improvement of responding to negative emotions may be particularly important for this developmental period. The study will aim to compare standard treatment for adolescent cannabis use disorders to a treatment we develop that focuses on teaching adolescents more helpful ways to manage their emotions.