Ten years later, Huestis went through a two-year program to earn a M.S. in clinical chemistry.[2] In 1988, Huestis started at the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) as a research fellow while completing her Ph.D. in toxicology in 1992 from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.[3][2] Her doctoral research focused on cannabis.[2] Her dissertation was titled An integrated pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic study of acute marijuana use.[3] She was over the age of 40 before she started conducting research.[2]