Lara Ray, PhD

Dr. Lara Ray received her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder. During her graduate degree she completed interdisciplinary training in behavioral genetics and neuroscience. Dr. Ray completed a predoctoral clinical internship at Brown University Medical School where she stayed for a postdoctoral fellowship at the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies. After her postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Ray joined the faculty at the UCLA Clinical Psychology Program where she is now a Full Professor. Dr. Ray also has academic appointments in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior and the UCLA Brain Research Institute. Dr. Ray has an active program of research on clinical neuroscience of addiction. Her laboratory combines experimental psychopharmacology with behavioral genetic and neuroimaging methods to ascertain the mechanisms underlying addictive disorders in humans and applying these insights to treatment development. Dr. Ray has over 150 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters. Her program of research is funded by the National Institute on Alcohol and Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) as well as the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA). Dr. Ray’s current interest centers around the clinical science informed translation of neurobiological models of addiction to clinical samples. Dr. Ray has received awards from the American Psychological Association (APA) for early career contributions to the science of addiction, including awards from the Society of Addiction Psychology (APA div 50), the Society of Clinical Psychology (APA div 12), and the Research Society for Alcoholism.