Keanan Joyner

Keanan Joyner is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, where he directs the Clinical Research on Externalizing and Addiction Mechanisms (C.R.E.A.M.) Lab. His research program aims to advance understanding of the developmental and psychological mechanisms underlying alcohol and other substance use disorders, with a focus on improving early identification and prevention strategies. His work examines disturbances in cognitive and affective processes that contribute to addiction and other forms of externalizing psychopathology across time. He investigates dispositional trait liabilities associated with addiction risk, particularly the interaction between disinhibition and reward sensitivity, and integrates both between-person and within-person mechanisms using ambulatory assessment methods such as ecological momentary assessment. His research further emphasizes improving the generalizability of addiction models to minoritized and socioeconomically disadvantaged populations. To address these questions, his lab employs human neuroscience approaches including EEG and event-related potentials, behavioral genetic analyses, and advanced statistical modeling techniques.