​Dr. Hynes is a behavioural neuroscientist who wants to know why everybody uses drugs but only some become addicted. He views addiction as disorder of aberrant learning, where those with an addictive disorder may learn too well. By uncovering how neurobiology and biological sex contribute to learning in health and disease, he aims to connect fundamental discoveries about brain function with personalised and precision treatments for addiction. ​Before joining Simon Fraser University, Dr. Hynes was a Leverhulme Early Career Fellow at the University of Cambridge, where he worked with Professor David Belin to reveal new roles for astrocytes in shaping the neurochemical pathways that underlie opioid use disorder. He earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of British Columbia with Professor Catharine Winstanley, where he investigated how dopamine and reward cues influence gambling-like behaviour. Dr. Hynes has also spent time in the private sector, working at the intersection of therapeutic biotechnology and engineering.