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F Joseph McClernon

Professor in Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences
Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, Behavioral Medicine & Neurosciences
3527, Durham, NC 27710
2400 Pratt St., 6th Floor, Durham, NC 27705

Research Interests


  • tobacco use among vulnerable populations (e.g. adolescents, people living with HIV);
  • cognitive and affective neuroscience of substance use disorders;
  • mobile health applications to treat tobacco use and other substance use disorders;
  • experimental clinical research to inform FDA regulation of tobacco products;
  • role of environments in the initiation, progression and cessation of tobacco use.

Selected Grants


Neurobehavioral mechanisms linking childhood adversity to increased risk for smoking

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2022 - 2027

Beta-Adrenergic Modulation of Drug Cue Reactivity: Neural and Behavioral Mechanisms

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by The University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center · 2022 - 2026

Predicting response to a U.S. nicotine reduction standard in medical and psychiatric priority populations

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Michigan · 2024 - 2025

Interdisciplinary Research Training Program in AIDS

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2010 - 2025

Impact of new standards for tobacco products among dual e-cigarette/combusted cigarette users

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2025

Duke CTSA (TL1) Year 5

Inst. Training Prgm or CMEMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2024

Using Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes as a Strategy to Disrupt the Pain-Smoking Reinforcement Cycle

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2024

Hybrid Trial of a Tailored Smoking Cessation Digital Therapeutic for Persons Living with HIV

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2024 - 2024

Impact of Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes in a Complex Marketplace

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Minnesota · 2018 - 2024

Clarifying the role of tobacco retail outlets on maternal smoking during pregnancy and child secondhand smoke exposure

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Virginia Commonwealth University · 2019 - 2023

Early-phase Studies of a Tailored Evidence-Based Smoking Cessation mHealth App for Persons Living with HIV

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2019 - 2022

Paternal Transgenerational Epigenetic Legacy from Use of Cannabis

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by John Templeton Foundation · 2017 - 2022

A High-Performance 3T MRI for Brain Imaging

EquipmentMajor User · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2021 - 2022

Targeting reward dysfunction as a mechanism to improve smoking cessation

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2022

Project 2: Evaluating New Nicotine Standards for Cigarettes - Supplement

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Minnesota · 2017 - 2022

Deep learning-based image analysis for assessing real-time smoking risk

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2018 - 2021

Mobile health interventions for varenicline adherence among HIV-positive smokers

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2021

Impact of new product standards for JUUL among dual JUUL/combusted cigarette users

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by Center for the Assessment of the Public Health Impact of Tobacco Regulations · 2019 - 2021

Nicotine Withdrawal and Reward Processing: Connecting Neurobiology to Real-World Behavior

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2021

Innovative Smartphone Application for Quitting Smoking among Seriously Mentally Ill

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2020

Neural Correlates of Social Reward in Smoking and Depression

ResearchMentor · Awarded by Brain and Behavior Research Foundation · 2017 - 2020

Reactions to Reduced Nicotine Cigarettes in Young Adult Low-Frequency Smokers

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2020

Bringing PrEP to Campus: Examining Strategies for PrEP Delivery to Historically Black College and Universities (HBCU)

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2005 - 2020

Environment Cue-Reactivity: Brain, Behavior and Clinical Outcomes in Tobacco Use

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2020

Prototype Development of CANARIUS - a Flexible, Dynamic, Scaleable, and Low-cost Platform for Surveiling Population Health

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by North Carolina Biotechnology Center · 2019 - 2020

Effects of Nicotine Reduction on Smoking Behavior in ADHD Smokers

ResearchCo-Principal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2015 - 2019

Neurobehavioral substrates of propranolol's effects on drug cue reactivity

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2017 - 2019

mSMART: Mobile App based Personalized Solutions and Tools for Medication Adherence of Rx Pills

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Intelligent Automation Inc. · 2014 - 2019

Behavioral and genetic mechanisms of smoking risk in individuals with ADHD

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2018

Smoking Abstinence in ADHD and non-ADHD Smokers: Assessing the Role of Emotion Dysregulation

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2018

Investigating the Effects of E-Cigarette Television Ads on Smokers

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by Research Triangle Institute International · 2016 - 2018

Strengthening Instrumental Extinction to Prevent Smoking Relapse

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2015 - 2018

Impact of Very Low Nicotine Content Cigarettes in a Complex Marketplace

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Minnesota · 2017 - 2017

Acute and chronic nicotine modulation of reinforcement learning

ResearchMentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2017

NeuroAIDS research with disadvantaged drug users

FellowshipCo-Sponsor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2014 - 2017

A Compute Cluster for Brain Imaging and Analysis

EquipmentMajor User · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2016 - 2017

Project 2: Evaluating New Nicotine Standards for Cigarettes - Supplement

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Minnesota · 2014 - 2017

Neurocognitive Impact of Marijuana Use in Patients with HIV/AIDS

FellowshipCo-Sponsor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2013 - 2015

Neurobehavioral and fMRI Research in HIV Infection and Cocaine Dependence

ResearchCo-Mentor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2010 - 2015

Development of a Smartphone-Based Virtual Sensor for Detecting Smoking Behavior

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2015

Environments as Smoking Cues: Imaging Brain Substrates, Developing New Treatments

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2014

Project 1: Evaluating New Nicotine Standards in Cigarettes - Supplement

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by University of Pittsburgh · 2013 - 2014

Elucidating links between ADHD symptoms and tobacco/alcohol use trajectories

ResearchAdvisor · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2010 - 2014

Neuropharmacology of Response Inhibition in Comorbid ADHD and Nicotine Dependence

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2014

Neural Substrates of Extinction-Based Treatment for Nicotine Dependence

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2008 - 2014

Optimal Smoking Cessation Treatment in PTSD

ResearchCollaborator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2003 - 2014

Novel Ondansetron Formulation for Combination Treatment of Psychostimulant Abuse

Clinical TrialCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2013

Neurobiology of Nicotine and Non-nicotine Components of Tobacco Addiction

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2008 - 2013

Neuroimaging of Nicotine Dependence, Depression and Emotion Regulation

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2012 - 2013

Genetic basis of smoking abstinence, smoking reinforcement, and inhibitory control

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2012

Supplemental Nicotine Administration for Smoking Cessation in PTSD

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2012

Smoking reinforcement in adults with and without ADHD

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2012

Smoking & Anxiety In Posttraumatic Stress Disorder

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 1998 - 2012

Neuropharmacology of Emotion-Cognition Interaction in Nicotine Dependence

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2009 - 2011

Precision Targeting of fMRI-Guided TMS Using a Robotic Arm System

EquipmentInvestigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2010 - 2011

Mechanisms of Nicotine Dependence in ADHD Adults

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2007 - 2009

Neuroimaging Attentional Impairment During Abstinence

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2004 - 2009

The Effect of Smoking on Startle & PPI in PTSD

ResearchCo Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2006 - 2009

Summer Research with NIDA for Underrepresented Minorities

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2004 - 2008

Drug Cue Reactivity in Smokers: An fMRI Investigation

ResearchPrincipal Investigator · Awarded by National Institutes of Health · 2002 - 2004