Dr. Luján grew up in Valencia (Spain), in the town of Sagunto. Miguel obtained his BSc in Psychology from University Jaume I, Castellon, Spain in 2014. He later completed an MSc in Neuroscience at Dr. Olga Valverde’s group in the University Pompeu Fabra, Barcelona in 2016. There, he was awarded with a Research and Docent Staff (FPU) scholarship by the Spanish Ministry of Education to develop his PhD studies in Biomedicine. In 2020, Miguel obtained his PhD, centered on the potential of CBD as a therapeutical strategy to reduce cocaine consumption. He then joined Dr. Joseph Cheer’s lab at the University of Maryland as a postdoctoral fellow. There, he investigated the interplay between the dopamine and endocannabinoid mesolimbic systems. In 2023, he was awarded a K99/R00 pathway to independence award from the NIDA/NIH to start his own lab.

In 2025, Dr. Luján joined the University of Illinois Chicago as a tenure-track Assistant Professor with an appointment in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology (College of Medicine). His lab continues to explore the neurobiological mechanisms underlying motivation, learning, and addiction.