Behavioral Science

Joshua A. Lile, Ph.D.

(Wake Forest University School of Medicine, 2002)

110 Medical Behavioral Science Building
Lexington, KY 40536-0086
Phone: (859) 323-6034
e-mail: jalile2@email.uky.edu
Full CV

Dr. Lile’s research interests focus on the pharmacological and behavioral determinants of, and potential treatments for, drug addiction. To this end, Dr. Lile is conducting several human laboratory research projects in three primary area:

1) The primary focus of my current research is to screen potential medications for cannabis-use disorders using an efficient, evidence-based progression of laboratory procedures. This goal is accomplished using a step-wise screening process to first identify targets and/or specific compounds using pharmacologically specific drug-discrimination procedures, followed by an evaluation of the ability of maintenance on a putative pharmacotherapy to attenuate the reinforcing effects of cannabis under controlled laboratory conditions as well as cannabis use in the natural environment. Supported by K02 DA031766 (Lile) and R01 DA025605 (Lile).

2) In collaboration with Drs. Craig Rush and Bill Stoops, Dr. Lile is pursuing medications development for the treatment of stimulant use disorders using drug self-administration models. Pharmacological strategies such as agonist replacement and indirect attenuation of dopamine activity are being tested in stimulant-dependent individuals. Supported by R01 DA025591 (Rush) and DA025032 (Rush).

3) Dr. Lile is involved in a series of studies, in collaboration with Dr. Tom Kelly, to investigate the influence of individual differences such personality and gonadal sex hormone status on the behavioral effects of drugs. This research integrates behavioral measures and functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) in the same subjects to examine the manner and anatomical locations in which these factors influence neurobehavioral outcomes. Supported by P50 DA005312 (Kelly).

2011 Accomplishments

This year, Dr. Lile was appointed to a regular title series faculty position as an Associate Professor of Behavioral Science. On the same day that his faculty appointment was finalized, he received a notice of grant award for a 5-year K02 career development award to support his efforts towards medications development for cannabis-use disorders. This research is also funded by an ongoing 4-year R01, and by a pilot project awarded this year to Dr. Lile from the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Research. These studies have identified promising neurobiological targets to manage cannabis dependence, and are testing potential medications using innovative outpatient maintenance procedures to determine pharmacotherapy effects on cannabis use in the laboratory and in the natural environment. Dr. Lile published two first author manuscripts this year based on this research, and presented results at the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the European Behavioural Pharmacology Society conferences, as well as an invited lecture at Johns Hopkins University. Another area of research for Dr. Lile has been the development of pharmacotherapies for the treatment of stimulant dependence in collaboration with Drs. Rush and Stoops. Dr. Lile served as a Co-Investigator on two R01 awards and an R21 to this end, and is currently coordinating two related studies. His involvement in this research resulted in two first-author and four co-authored publications, four conference presentations, and six R01 and one R21 grant submissions. One of these R01 applications was submitted by Dr. Lile as the PI, and would be conducted in collaboration with investigators at Virginia Commonwealth University to develop a translational approach to screen medications for cocaine dependence in humans and non-human primates.  A third area of involvement for Dr. Lile has been the study of the influence of individual differences (i.e., gonadal sex hormones and personality factors) on vulnerability to drug use in collaboration with Dr. Kelly, which has been supported by a UK Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) and the UK Center on Drug Abuse Translation (CDART). His involvement in this research resulted in a first-author and two co-authored original research publications, a book chapter (co-author), and four conference presentations. In addition, Dr. Lile was included as a Co-Investigator on the competing continuation application for the CDART P50 award, and also on a new P50 Specialized Centers of Research (SCOR) application on the role of gender on tobacco abstinence and relapse.  As a regular-title series faculty member, Dr. Lile was able to allocate effort towards education by serving as a Co-Instructor for BSC 731, Methods and Technologies in Clinical and Translational Science, and MD 811, Introduction to Clinical Medicine, as well as giving an invited lecture in PSY 780, Problems in Psychology. Worth noting are the excellent course reviews submitted by the students in BSC 731. He also served as a dissertation committee member for Mr. Dustin Lee, a Psychology graduate student. Dr. Lile is listed as training faculty on the NIDA T32 training grant in the Behavioral Science Department, and served on the pre-doctoral and post-doctoral trainee selection committee for the grant. Dr. Lile has provided service to the academic and research community by giving two community education lectures and reviewing 17 manuscripts for 11 different journals. Last, but certainly not least, he was appointed as a regular member to the University of Kentucky Institutional Review Board this year.

Representative Publications (Full CV)

Lile JA, Kelly TH and Hays LR (2011). Separate and combined effects of the GABA reuptake inhibitor tiagabine and D9-THC in humans discriminating D9-THC. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Epub ahead of print. PMID: 21975195.

Lile JA, Stoops WW, Glaser PEA, Hays LR, Rush CR (2011). Subjective and physiological effects of acute intranasal methamphetamine during extended-release alprazolam maintenance. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, Epub ahead of print. PMID: 21737214.

Lile JA, Stoops WW, Glaser PEA, Hays LR, Rush CR (2011). Discriminative-stimulus, subject-rated, performance and cardiovascular effects of cocaine alone and in combination with aripiprazole in humans. Journal of Psychopharmacology, Epub ahead of print. PMID: 20952456.

Lile JA, Kelly TH and Hays LR (2011). Separate and combined effects of the cannabinoid agonists nabilone and D9-THC in humans discriminating D9-THC. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 116: 86-92. PMID: 21227600. PMCID: PMC3089804.

Lile JA, Babalonis S, Emurian C, Martin CA, Wermeling D, Kelly TH (2011). Comparison of the behavioral and cardiovascular effects of intranasal and oral d-amphetamine in healthy human subjects. Journal of Clinical Pharmacology. 51: 899-907. PMID: 20671295 PMCID: In Process.

Lile JA, Kelly TH and Hays LR (2010). Substitution profile of the cannabinoid agonist nabilone in humans discriminating D9-tetrahydrocannabinol. Clinical Neuropharmacology 33: 235-42. PMID: 20838217. PMCID: PMC2712322.

Lile JA, Kelly TH and Hays LR (2010) The reinforcing, self-reported, performance and physiological effects of D9-THC, triazolam, hydromorphone and methylphenidate in cannabis users. Behavioural Pharmacology, 21: 29-38. PMID: 19949319. PMCID: PMC2903043.

Lile JA, Kelly TH, Pinsky DJ, and Hays LR (2009) Substitution profile for D9-THC, triazolam, hydromorphone and methylphenidate in humans discriminating D9-THC. Psychopharmacology, 203 (Special Issue on the Stimulus Properties of Drugs): 241-250. PMID: 19018520 PMCID: PMC2712322.

Lile JA, Stoops WW, Hays LR and Rush CR (2008). The safety, tolerability, and subject-rated effects of acute intranasal cocaine administration during aripiprazole maintenance II: Increased aripiprazole dose and maintenance period. The American Journal of Drug and Alcohol Abuse, 34: 721-9. PMID: 18855244 PMCID: PMC2713051.

Lile JA, Stoops WW, Wagner FP, Glaser PEA and Rush CR (2005). Oxazepam does not modulate the behavioral effects of d-amphetamine in humans. Pharmacology, Biochemistry and Behavior, 82: 270-9. PMID: 16182353.

Lile JA, Stoops WW, Vansickel AR, Glaser PEA, Hays LR and Rush CR (2005) Aripiprazole attenuates the discriminative-stimulus and subject-rated effects of d-amphetamine in humans. Neuropsychopharmacology, 30: 2103-14. PMID: 15988473.

Lile JA, Stoops WW, Hays LR and Rush CR (2004) Acute administration of the GABA reuptake inhibitor tiagabine does not alter the effects of oral cocaine in humans. Drug and Alcohol Dependence 76: 81-91. PMID: 15380292.

Lile JA, Stoops WW, Allen TS, Glaser PEA, Hays LR and Rush CR (2004) Baclofen does not alter the reinforcing, subject-rated or cardiovascular effects of intranasal cocaine in humans. Psychopharmacology 171: 441-9. PMID: 14504683.