Joshua Gray PhD

Education

B.A., Psychology, University of Maryland, College Park, MD
M.S., Clinical Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA
Predoctoral Psychology Resident, Brown University, Providence, RI
Ph.D., Clinical Psychology, University of Georgia, Athens, GA

Biography

Dr. Gray’s research program focuses on understanding and improving the treatment of addiction and related psychiatric conditions. His work integrates psychiatric genetics, neurobiology, and health services research to: (1) identify biological mechanisms underlying substance use and related phenotypes and inform new treatments; and (2) improve care for both military and civilian populations affected by addictive disorders.

His research spans several areas:

1. The genetic and neurobiological architecture of addiction and comorbid conditions (e.g., anxiety, PTSD, pain).
2. Military health services research aimed at improving care for service members who engage in harmful alcohol use.
3. The evaluation of novel and emerging interventions, including collaborative work on psychedelic-assisted therapies.

Dr. Gray’s work frequently uses large-scale datasets and advanced statistical genetic methods, including genome-wide association studies, causal inference approaches (e.g., Mendelian randomization, pharmacoepidemiology), and machine learning/artificial intelligence.

His research has been supported by multiple federal agencies, including the National Institutes of Health. He is the Principal Investigator of an NIAAA R01 focused on translating genome-wide association study findings on alcohol use into targets for medication development.

Representative Bibliography

Owens, M. M., Hyatt, C. S., Xu, H., Thompson, M. F., Miller, J. D., Lynam, D. R., MacKillop, J., & Gray, J. C. (in press). Test-retest reliability of the neuroanatomical correlates of impulsive personality traits in the ABCD study. Journal of Psychopathology and Clinical Science

Gray, J. C., Murphy, M., Carter, S. E., Johnson, M. W., Wolfgang, A. S., Roy, M. J., & Maples-Keller, J. L. (2022). Beliefs and perceived barriers regarding psychedelic-assisted therapy in a pilot study of service members and veterans with a history of traumatic brain injury. Military Medicine. doi: 10.1093/milmed/usac400

Gray, J. C., Larson, M. J., Moresco, N., Ritter, G. A., Dufour, S., Milliken, C. S., & Adams, R. S. (2021). The association of engagement in substance use treatment with negative separation from the military among soldiers with post-deployment alcohol use disorder. Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 221. doi: 10.1016/j.drugalcdep.2021.108647

Gray, J. C., Thompson, M., Bachman, C., Owens, M. M., Murphy, M., & Palmer, R. H. C. (2020). Associations of cigarette smoking with gray and white matter in the UK Biobank. Neuropsychopharmacology. doi: 10.1038/s41386-020-0630-2

Adams, R. S., Dietrich, E. J., Gray, J. C., Milliken, C., Moresco, N., & Larson, M. J. (2019). Post-deployment screening in the Military Health System: An opportunity to intervene for possible alcohol use disorder. Health Affairs, 38(8), 1298-1306. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2019.00284

Gray, J. C., Schvey, N. A., & Tanofsky-Kraff, M. (2019). Demographic, psychological, behavioral, and cognitive correlates of BMI in youth: Findings from the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study. Psychological Medicine. doi: 10.1017/S0033291719001545

Sanchez-Roige, S., Gray, J. C., MacKillop, J., Chen, Chi-Hua, & Palmer, A. A. (2018). The genetics of human personality. Genes, Brain and Behavior, 17(3), e12439. doi: 10.1111/gbb.12439

Gray, J. C., Owens, M. M., Hyatt, C. S., & Miller, J. D. (2018). No evidence for morphometric associations of the amygdala and hippocampus with the five-factor model personality traits in relatively healthy young adults. PLOS ONE. 9(13), e0204011. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0204011