Lara-Curzio has been a principal investigator for several research projects sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy, other Federal Agencies and industry, and has successfully led multiple collaborative projects with industry and academia. His areas of expertise include: mechanical behavior of materials, in particular materials for power generation and for the conversion, transmission, utilization and storage of energy;

He has authored or co-authored more than 260 papers and 6 U.S. patents, and has given more than 50 invited presentations at national and international meetings.

Lara-Curzio was a member of the Board of Directors of ACerS between * and * and member of the External Advisory Board for the Institute for Materials at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Lara-Curzio is a Fellow of both ACerS and ASTM and a member of Alpha Sigma Mu the International Metallurgical Honorary Society.