She is a Postdoctoral Associate at the Center for Research on U.S. Latino HIV/AIDS and Drug Abuse (CRUSADA) at Florida International University. Her research has focused on identifying and understanding the mechanisms by which individual, interpersonal, social and cultural factors influence the transitions across the stages of the drug use continuum. More recently Dr. Lopez-Quintero has become interested in the design of preventive interventions that aim to reduce drug use and HIV/AIDS health disparities. Her other areas of research interests include e-health literacy and mental health.