Research Interests
Dr. Alexander Wallace’s research focuses on the effects of substance use on adolescent and young adult neurodevelopment including neuropsychological, clinical, and neuroanatomical outcomes. While initially focusing on the effects of adolescent and young adult cannabis use, Dr. Wallace has expanded his research while on Postdoctoral Fellowship under Dr. Susan Tapert to investigate the effects of nicotine, alcohol, and co-use amongst all three substances to better understand the synergistic effect on brain development and downstream behavioral outcomes.
His work leverages both self-report and biomarkers of substance use including toxicology testing and circulating endocannabinoids. Further, by utilizing large open access datasets like the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study, he looks at the effects of substance use on adolescent cognitive and structural brain markers beyond two time points to more comprehensive understand longitudinal trajectories. Finally, Dr. Wallace examines how modifiable health factors, such as physical activity, may moderate the relationships between substance use and development.
Dr. Wallace has recently received a K08 grant from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to research the moderating role of caffeine on adolescent caffeine use. Additionally, Dr. Wallace is the Co-Chair of the Substance Use Workgroup on the ABCD Study and helps to oversee substance use data collection across the ABCD consortium.
Selected Publications
Shankula, C.A., Sullivan, R.M., Stinson, E.A., Baacke, K.A., Kaiver, C.M., Wallace, A.L., Bernal, E.S., Paltzer, Z.R., Hillard, C.J., & Lisdahl, K.M. (2026). Associations of Endocannabinoid Serum Concentrations with Behavioral Impulsivity and Substance Use in Late Childhood to Early Adolescence.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42161038/Wade, N.E., Sullivan, R.M., Wallace, A.L., Visontay, R., Szpak, V., Lisdahl, K.M., Huestis, M.A., Goncalves, P.D., Byrne, H., Mewton, L., Jacobus, J., & Tapert, S.F. (2026). Longitudinal Neurocognitive Trajectories in a Large Cohort of Youth Who Use Cannabis: Combining Self-Report and Toxicology.
Neuropsychopharmacology,1-10.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42002627/Sullivan, R.M., Wallace, A.L., Shankula, C.A., Celhay, O., Ziemer, L.R., Smith, C.J., Berman, S., Linkersdorfer, J., Martz, M.E., Courtney, K.E., Jacobus, J., Tapert, S.F., Heitzeg, M.M., Lisdahl, K.M., & Wade, N.E., (2026). Substance Use Patterns from Late Childhood to Mid-Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study.
Drug and Alcohol Dependence Reports.https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13427407/Wallace, A.L., Baca, R., Andrade, G., Hillary, C.J., Happer, J.P., Wade, N.E., Courtney, K.E., Hernandez Mejia, M., & Jacobus, J. (2025). Young Adult Cannabis Use and Circulating Endocannabinoid Concentrations on Cognitive Performance.
Frontiers in Adolescent Medicine, 3, 1538448.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12622566/Wallace, A.L., Aguinaldo, L., Thomas, M.L., McCarthy, M.J., & Meruelo, A.D., (2025). Preliminary Findings on Caffeine Intake, Screen Time, Social Factors, and Psychological Well-Being: Their Impact on Chronotype and Sleep Health in Hispanic Adolescents.
Sleep Advances, zpaf019 (
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12038348/)
Wallace, A.L., Courtney, K.E., Wade, N.E., Doran, N., Delfel, E.L., Baca, R., Hatz, L.E., Thompson, C., Andrade, G., & Jacobus (2024). A Preliminary Investigation of Physical and Mental Health Features of Cannabis & Nicotine Co-Use Among Adolescents and Young Adults by Sex.
Addictive Behaviors, 156, 108064.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38821010/Wallace, A.L., Huestis, M.A., Sullivan, R.M., & Wade, N.E., (2024). Amygdala Volume and Depression Symptoms in Young Adolescents Who Use Cannabis.
Behavioral Brain Research, 4772, 115150.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39009188/Wade, N.E., Nguyen-Louie, T.T., Wallace, A.L., Sullivan, R.M., & Tapert, S.F. (2024). Commercial CBD for Community-Based Young Adolescents: Predicting Medicinal Use.
Cannabis and Cannabinoid Research.https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38775636/Wallace, A.L., Courtney, K.E., Wade, N.E., Hatz, L.E., Baca, R., Jacobson, A., Liu, T.T., Jacobus. (2024) Neurite Orietnation Dispersion and Density IMaging (NODDI) of Brain Midcrostructure in Adolescent Cannabis and Nicotine Use.
Behavioral Sciences. 14, 231.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38540534/Wade, N.E., Wallace, A.L., Huestis, M.A., Lisdahl, K.M., Sullivan, R.M., & Tapert, S.F. (2023). Cannabis Use and Neurocognitive Performance at 13-14 Years-Old: Optimizing Assessment with Hair Toxicology in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) Study.
Addictive Behaviros, 150, 107930.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38091780/