His laboratory studies neural circuits in the brain whose misregulation leads to behavioral abnormalities including addiction. He is an advocate for evidence based treatment approaches to addiction, a chronic brain disease. He has given TEDxDirigo talk and published extensively on this topic. He is also a trustee of the Acadia Family Center, a nonprofit addiction treatment and family counseling facility on Mount Desert Island. He has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Chicago and a PhD from the University of California, San Diego. He carried out postdoctoral research at Northwestern University and The University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center.