Dr. Lopez’ primary research interest has focused on the distribution (incidence and prevalence), behavioral manifestations, risks, and long-term outcomes of dementia, especially Alzheimer’s disease (AD). His key objectives have been to identify clinical or genetic factors that modify the natural history of dementing illnesses. He has published classic papers examining the patterns of progression of all clinical forms of AD. He has examined the effect of psychiatric drugs, and dementia medication on the progression of AD. He has pioneered long-term studies of the use of dementia medications. He has reported that the long-term use of cholinesterase inhibitors alone or in combination with memantine decreased the risk of nursing home admission, but not death. He is a coauthor of The American Psychiatric Association Practice Guideline on the Use of Antipsychotics to Treat Agitation or Psychosis in Patients with Dementia.