Dr. De La Garza received his Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Texas Medical Branch followed by postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Yale University School of Medicine. He is currently an Adjunct professor at the University of New Mexico’s College of Pharmacy.
Dr. De La Garza conducts laboratory studies in humans to investigate the safety and efficacy of novel pharmacological and behavioral treatments for nicotine, cocaine and methamphetamine use disorders. Techniques used include behavioral assays, physiological measures, virtual reality/cue-reactivity, and neuroimaging. He is also interested in cancer prevention as it relates to smoking cessation research and is evaluating the neurobiological and behavioral effects of electronic cigerettes in cigerette smokers. Dr. De La Garza has established an integrated, evidence-based tobacco treatment program at Baylor and the first program at M. D. Anderson to evaluate psychiatric symptoms as a function of cancer diagnosis and stage, and the impact of cancer therapies and other treatments on psychiatric symptoms.