Alumni of the Training Program
The following is a listing of CAAS alumni describing their background and research interests upon entering into the program and current position.
2010-2012 Ashlee C. Carter received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL in 2010. Her program of research has focused on the convergence of alcohol expectancies, psychophysiological reactivity to affective picture cues, and risk for substance use disorders. Additionally, she has examined psychosocial factors that impact drinking trajectories among college students and their non-college peers. As a postdoctoral fellow, Ashlee plans expand her program of research to clinical and pharmacological interventions for substance use disorders, investigating the impact of biopsychosocial factors on treatment outcomes. Dr. Carter accepted a staff psychologist position in the Posttraumatic Stress Disorder clinic at the Providence VA Medical Center, where she will specialize in working with recently deployed veterans diagnosed with PTSD and co-occurring conditions, including substance use disorders
2010-2012 Elise M. Clerkin received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2010. Her background is in the research and treatment of anxiety-based disorders, with an emphasis on evaluating cognitive models of anxiety and the relatively automatic processing of threatening information. At CAAS, Elise hopes to synthesize her interest in anxiety with a new focus on adult alcohol use in order to a) evaluate mechanisms of change in symptom reduction; and b) develop brief, experimental interventions for comorbid anxiety and substance use. Dr. Clerkin submitted an R21 through NIAAA to test an experimental, Cognitive Bias Modification (CBM) intervention among individuals with co-occurring alcohol dependence and social anxiety symptoms. The grant received a promising score and was resubmitted in February. Elise is moving to Oxford OH, where she will begin a tenure track position in Clinical Psychology at Miami University.
2009-2012 Uraina S. Clark received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Boston University in 2007. Her broader research interests include understanding the behavioral and functional consequences of frontal-subcortical disruption. Her current work utilizes neuroimaging techniques to examine the brain effects of alcohol use in individuals with HIV. This work builds upon her previous studies, some of which are ongoing, including investigations of neural and neuropsychological abnormalities associated with conditions that affect frontal and/or subcortical systems such as stress, alcoholism, Parkinson's disease, aging, and HIV. Dr. Clark submitted an NIMH K23 grant application in 2011 to examine the combined effects of HIV infection and early-life stress on brain function in HIV+ individuals. Uraina's grant was recently funded and she plans to transition to a faculty position as an Assistant Professor in the Neurology Department at Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
2011-2012 Katherine L. Kivisto received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, from the University of Tennessee in 2011. Her research focused on adolescent close relationships and emotion regulation as contexts for adolescent substance abuse, psychopathology, and preventative interventions. Dr. Kivisto is pursuing an R21 through NIAAA to study the effects of adolescent mood and distress tolerance on alcohol craving and use in the natural environment. She accepted the position of Assistant Professor of Child Clinical Psychology at the University of Indianapolis School of Psychological Sciences.
2010-2012 L. Cinnamon Bidwell received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Genetics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research broadly focuses on understanding the development and maintenance of mental disorders across the lifespan and investigates the links between genetic vulnerabilities, neuropsychological weaknesses and neurocognitive abnormalities, and a variety of psychiatric conditions, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, and substance use. Cinnamon hopes to build upon her prior research while at the Center by conducting research on the genetic and neurobiological mechanisms underlying the high rates of comorbidity between substance use and psychiatric difficulties. Dr. Bidwell was funded by NIDA to pursue a K23 Career Development Award to conduct research into the genetic and cognitive correlates of increased risk for smoking in adolescents with ADHD. She joins the faculty at the CAAS and works with her mentors at Lifespan, Brown, and Stanford Research Institute to conduct research and gain training in psychopharmacology, psychiatric genetics, and adolescent smoking.
2009-2012 Anthony Comeau received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Brown University in 2009. His primary research focuses on small molecule development for the purpose of enzyme inhibition and development to the design and use of new pharmacotherapy for the cocaine use disorder. Dr. Comeau has accepted a Postdoc research fellowship with the Pharmacology Department at Brown University.
2009-2012 Jessica Nargiso received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 2009. Her primary research interests are in examining the efficacy of multilevel substance abuse prevention and early interventions for adolescents, with a focus on family and community-based approaches. Additionally, Jessica has examined gender differences in risk for early initiation of alcohol use in adolescents. During her postdoctoral training, Jessica has focused on adapting preventive interventions to address tobacco-related health disparities among low-income communities. Currently, she is writing a grant to examine effective tobacco prevention approaches for low-income families living in public housing; while working as a Staff Psychologist, in Clinical Psychology and Addictions at Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA.
2010-2012 Caroline C. Kuo received her D.Phil. in Evidence-Based Social Policy from Oxford University in 2010. Researched health of vulnerable HIV-affected populations including families and orphaned children in South Africa. Dr. Kuo's K01 through NIMH is currently under council review. Caroline is eager to continue her research on interventions to address HIV risk and poor mental health in vulnerable families. She has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor (Research) at CAAS and Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences.
2009-2011 Sara Becker received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Duke University and completed her clinical internship from McLean Hospital / Harvard Medical School in 2009. Her graduate work focused on the evaluation of evidence-based practice (EBP) for adolescent substance abuse (ASA). At CAAS, she developed a research and training program studying the relevance of strategies from the field of services marketing to advance the dissemination of EBP for ASA. She has accepted a position as Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown.
2009-2011 pre doc Jason Ramirez received his MS in Experimental Psychology in 2010 from Brown University where he is currently pursuing his Ph.D. in the same field. His primary research interests are based on animal models of relapse and in particular identifying contextual risk factors. At the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies, he has worked on various projects aimed at identifying mechanisms of action underlying various pharmacotherapies for alcohol addiction in human populations. In addition, he has gained valuable experience with ecological momentary assessment (EMA) in which data is collected in real time in the natural environment. This has allowed examination of contextual factors on human craving in the natural environment providing an excellent parallel to Jason’s animal work. Jason is entering his fourth year of graduate studies at Brown University and will now focus his efforts on his thesis work with animal models.
2009-2011 Lindsay Orchowski received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Ohio University with a specialization in Applied Quantitative Psychology and a certificate in Women’s Studies in 2009. Her primary research interests are factors associated with violence against women, and the development of sexual assault prevention programs. At the Center, she studied the role of alcohol as a risk factor for sexual assault. Dr. Orchowski has accepted a position as an Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at the Alpert Medical School of Brown Univeristy. She is currently the PI of a 3-year NIAAA-funded R34 Treatment Development grant aimed at developing and testing an integrated intervention that addresses alcohol use and sexual aggression among college men.
2009-2011 Margie R. Skeer received her Sc.D. in Social Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health in 2009 and her M.S.W. and M.P.H. from Boston University in 2001 and 2003 respectively. Her primary research interests are in adolescent substance use disorders, with respect to epidemiology and prevention. Her prior work has focused on etiologic pathways by which adolescents develop substance use problems, examining specifically the associations between family- and neighborhood-level risk factors in childhood and the development of substance use disorders in adolescence. Her current work investigates the effects of brief interventions with parents as a means to prevent substance abuse and sexual risk behavior among adolescents, with a specific focus on family meals. She has taken a position as Assistant Professor at the Tufts University School of Medicine in the Department of Public Health and Community Medicine.
2009-2011 Kristen Underhill received her D.Phil. in Evidence-based Social Intervention from Oxford, England in 2007. Her primary research interests are in the behavioral prevention of HIV, particularly the behavioral aspects of biomedical interventions such as antiretroviral pre-exposure prophylaxis. Her past research has focused on systematic reviewing, abstinence-based programs for HIV prevention among adolescents, the social context of HIV risk among sexual minorities, and HIV prevention in criminal justice settings. She has accepted a position as Associate Research Scientist/Scholar at Yale, with affiliations at the Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS and Yale Law School.
2009-2010 Richard Mulligan received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science in 2007. His primary research interests are in the use of fMRI to assess how addiction to tobacco is related to dysfunction of fronto-striatal systems across the lifespan. His prior work has investigated the neural substrate of inhibitory control in adults with Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder. This year, he is conducting programmatic research investigating how genetic variations in the dopaminergic system impact the neural system supporting inhibitory control, and how these effects are in turn related to disinhibited and addictive behaviors. He is currently in the process of writing an R01 application to conduct a randomized, placebo-controlled fMRI study in which genetic variations in the dopamine pathway and the neural substrate of inhibitory control are assessed in smokers on and off nicotine. Dr. Mulligan is currently Postdoctoral Research Scholar Psychiatry,Washington University, St. Louis.
2009-2010 Marlene Chait received her Ed.D. in Transition Special Education with a concentration in Disability Studies from The George Washington University, in Washington, D.C., in 2007. Her exploratory study, combining quantitative and qualitative methodology, looked at women with disabilities, and their experience with, and attitudes toward personal care, sexuality education and sexual expression. Although an issue largely unrecognized and a population little served, women veterans often experience similar isolation and abuse, and additionally suffer addiction. Marlene's present research will be used to determine a policy initiative to benefit women veterans and their loved ones as they transition from tours in Iraq, Afghanistan and other parts of the world. Additionally, Marlene is collaborating with Women Veteran organizations and Veteran’s Medical Centers in research, investigating why some women veterans returning from combat zones are able to achieve recovery from addiction and other women veterans cannot achieve recovery. Dr. Chait is currently President of Mc Consulting Inc.,Educational Consultants in Philadelphia, PA.
2008-2010 Nadine Mastroleo received her Ph.D. in Counselor Education and Supervision from The Pennsylvania State University in 2008. Her research interests include college student alcohol use, peer counseling interventions aimed at high risk college student drinking populations, and counselor training approaches in brief, empirically supported treatments. In addition, she seeks to investigate student-athlete drinking behaviors and prevention and intervention approaches aimed at this population. Dr. Mastroleo accepted a position as Assistant Professor (Research), Brown University.
2007-2009 Molly Magill received her Ph.D. in Social Work Research from Boston College in 2007. Her primary research area is treatment process in psychosocial intervention with adult substance use disorders. Molly has a particular interest in examining mechanisms of action in evidence-based treatments, and distinguishing elements of treatment process that are model specific from those that are common to intervention with substance using populations. As a postdoctoral fellow, Molly focused on measurement of alcohol treatment process through observational coding systems. Dr. Magill accepted a position as Assistant Professor (Research), Brown University.
2007-2010 Bettina Hoeppner received her Ph.D. in experimental Psychology in 2007 and her M.S. in Statistics in 2005, both from the University of Rhode Island. During her graduate training, she collaborated on numerous population-based health behavior change projects at the Cancer Prevention Research Center at URI. During this time, she focused on using advanced longitudinal methodology in understanding and documenting addictive behavior and its change, including both nomothetic and idiographic approaches. During her postdoctoral fellowship, she has become increasingly interested in the fine-grained patterns of substance use, particularly in adolescents and young adults. Dr. Hoeppner is currently an Assistant Professor Director of Biostatistics, Harvard Center for Addictive Medicine at MGH.
2007-2009 Lynn Hernandez received her Ph.D. in Life-Span Developmental Psychology from Florida International University in 2007. Her primary research interests focus on understanding the roles psychosocial developmental variables and cultural factors play in adolescents’ substance use trajectories. She is also interested in understanding how such variables moderate treatment outcomes in order to examine the developmental and cultural appropriateness of interventions for adolescents. As a postdoctoral fellow she is interested in making cultural adaptations to an intervention for substance using Hispanic/Latino adolescents. Dr. Hernandez is currently an Assistant Professor (Research) Brown Medical School.
2007-2009 Christy Capone received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 2007. Her primary research interests are in behavioral and pharmacologic treatments for alcohol use disorders, etiological risk factors (e.g. familial alcoholism) for alcohol dependence, and the application of advanced statistical modeling techniques. She joined the PTSD clinic where she is working with patients with comorbid PTSD and substance abuse disorders. Christy’s research will continue to focus on pharmacological and behavioral treatments for co-occurring disorders. Dr. Capone is currently at the VAMC, as Staff Psychologist and pending Assistant Professor at Brown.
2007 – 2009 Travis Cook received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California, San Diego/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 2007. His primary research interest is in the use of mindfulness and distress tolerance techniques to improve the efficacy of treatment for substance use disorders. Travis is currently a staff psychologist in the Substance Abuse Treatment Program at the Providence VA Medical Center. He is conducting laboratory research on the role of emotion regulation in information processing among problem drinkers. Dr. Cook is currently at the VAMC, as Staff Psychologist and pending Assistant Professor at Brown.
2007 – 2009 John Hayes received a Ph.D. in Nutrition and a certificate in Quantitative Research Methods (Psychology) from the University of Connecticut in 2007. His research interests revolve around the psychobiology of ingestive behavior. His prior work focused on how oral sensory phenotypes relate to differences in the sensations from foods and beverages, and how these differences may drive liking, and ultimately, intake. John is currently a Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at the Pennsylvania State University in State College, Pennsylvania. He will continue to explore chemosensory perception and food choice within a biobehavioral framework, with a special focus on the acquisition of preference for initially aversive stimuli as well as foods or beverages with strong potential health impact. Dr. Hayes is currently at Penn State, as an Assistant Professor of Food Science.
2007 - 2009 Adam Leventhal received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from University of Houston in 2007. His primary research interest is in affective and motivational processes underlying addiction. His work integrates clinical, cognitive, and physiological psychology approaches to understand the etiology of drug use motivation, with a specific focus on nicotine and stimulant use disorders. Adam is currently an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) of Preventive Medicine at the University of Southern California, Keck School of Medicine. His research will continue to investigate the psychobiological underpinnings of tobacco and stimulant addiction.
2007- 2009 Kristen Stone received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from The University of Memphis, Memphis, TN, in 2007. Kristen is interested in the causal relationships between sleep problems and addiction to cocaine and other drugs. Kristen is currently an independent clinical researcher at the Brown Center for the Study of Children at Risk, which is a division of the Pediatrics Department of Women & Infants Hospital. Dr. Stone is the principal investigator of an NIH grant-funded investigating postpartum sleep effects on smoking relapse. Her research will continue to focus on clarifying the link between drug addiction and sleep problems for the promotion of optimal health and well-being for individuals and families. Dr. Stone is currently an Assistant Professor (Research) Brown Medical School.
2006 – 2009 John Hustad received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Syracuse University in 2006. His research interests include college student alcohol use, empirically supported treatments, behavioral economics, and biological markers of alcohol use. John is currently Assistant Professor (tenure-track) at The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Division of General Internal Medicine and the Department of Public Health Sciences, Division of Health Services Research. He will continue to research web-based interventions for college students, mechanisms of behavioral change, and predictors of high-risk consumption.
2006 – 2009 Leila Tarokh received her Ph.D. in Psychology with an emphasis in Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of California, Irvine in March 2006. Her primary research interest is in the use neuroimaging techniques, such as electroencephalograph (EEG), to study the effect of alcohol use on both sleep and waking states. She is also interested in the impact that a parental history of alcohol abuse has on sleep and cortical function of children and adolescents. She continues her work examining sleep and development in children and adolescents with a history of parental alcohol abuse/dependence with Dr. Mary Carskadon at Brown University. Leila will also be a visiting fellow at the University of Zurich in Switzerland and collaborate with Dr. Peter Achermann on modeling of developmental changes in the sleep EEG. Dr. Tarokh is currently at Brown, as an Instructor (Research).
2006-2008 Christopher AhnAllen received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Massachusetts Boston in 2006. His research interests include the examination of how neuropsychological factors, including attention, interact with cigarette smoking behavior and nicotine levels in psychiatric populations. Primarily, he is invested in understanding the relationship between cigarette smoking behavior and persons with serious mental illness, namely schizophrenia spectrum disorders. Dr. AhnAllen is currently a Clinical Psychologist, VA Boston Healthcare System and Research Associate, Brown Medical School.
2006-2008 Lance Swenson received his Ph.D. in clinical and developmental psychology from the University of Missouri-Columbia in 2006. His primary research interests involve the influences of adolescents' social relationships on the development of maladaptive behavior (e.g., suicidality, substance use). Dr. Swenson is an Assistant Professor, Suffolk University.
2007-2008 Lara Ray received her PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Colorado at Boulder in 2007, after completing her predoctoral clinical internship at the Brown University Clinical Psychology Training Consortium. During her graduate training, Dr. Ray completed a graduate program in behavioral genetics through the Institute for Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr. Rays program of research focuses on psychosocial and genetic factors underlying the risk for the development of substance use disorders by focusing primarily on alcohol endophenotypes. Dr. Ray is especially interested in applying human laboratory paradigms, such as alcohol administration and cue-exposure, to examine the biobehavioral mechanisms of action of novel pharmacotherapies for alcoholism and to evaluate the role of genetic factors in determining who responds to a given pharmacotherapy and by which mechanisms. Dr. Ray is an Assistant Professor, UCLA.
2005-2007 Laura MacPherson received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California, San Diego/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 2005. Her primary research interests include processes involved in adolescent and young adult smoking self-change efforts and design of developmentally appropriate smoking cessation interventions. Dr. MacPherson has taken a postion as Research Assistant Professor at the University of Maryland. As a postdoctoral fellow, she explored application of a motivationally based smoking intervention with an adjunct exercise component for college age sedentary smokers. She was also involved in a study of MI for substance use among adolescents hospitalized for psychiatric comorbidity. Dr. MacPherson is currently a Research Assistant Professor, University of Maryland.
2004-2007 Sara Dolan received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Iowa in 2004. Her primary research interest is neuropsychological function in persons with substance use disorders. Dr. Dolan accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at Baylor University. As a postdoctoral fellow she investigated the etiological significance of executive dysfunction in addiction. She also explored how neuropsychological function impacts substance abuse treatment process and outcome. Dr. Dolan is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience, Baylor University.
2005-2007 George Kenna received his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology in 2003 and B.S. in Pharmacy in 1975, both from the University of Rhode Island. His primary interest is in single drug and more complex pharmacotherapy trials for alcoholism, and translating findings of clinical efficacy trials to a more heterogeneous population of alcohol dependent patients. He is also interested in identifying risk factors that contribute to substance use and abuse by healthcare professionals and educating healthcare professionals on the addiction process. Dr. Kenna is currently an Assistant Professor (Research) Brown Medical School and Assistant Director, Opioid Risk Management Tufts Healthcare Institute Clinical Pharmacist, Westerly Hospital.
2004-2007 Jane Metrik received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of California, San Diego/San Diego State University Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 2004. Her primary research interests are the expectancy models of alcohol and drug use. She has studied alcohol expectancies involved in cessation from drinking and now plans to explore marijuana expectancies and particularly their influence on impulsivity and risk taking among youth. Dr. Metrik is currently an Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown.
2006-2007 Kristina Phillips received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology with a specialization in Behavioral Medicine from Bowling Green State University in 2005. Her primary research interests include the development of interventions that utilize harm reduction strategies to decrease risk of HIV, hepatitis, and other health complications associated with intravenous drug use. She is also interested in brief substance abuse interventions that incorporate a cognitive-behavioral and/or motivational enhancement component and the design of measures to evaluate "harm reduction self-efficacy." As a post-doctoral fellow, she evaluated the efficacy of a risk reduction intervention for intravenous drug users at risk for blood-born disease and bacterial infections. Dr. Phillips is currently an Assistant Professor, University of Northern Colorado.
2006-2007 Tara White received her PhD in Developmental Psychology from Cornell University in 1998. Her research interests include individual differences in fMRI responses to alcohol, during the ascending and descending limbs of the response curve. Dr. White is currently an Assistant Professor (Research) at Brown.
2005-2006 James MacKillop received his PhD in Clinical Psychology from the State University of New York at Binghamton in 2005. His research interests are the application of modern learning theory to addictive behavior. In the past, this has included laboratory studies on the effect of cognitive manipulations on alcohol cue reactivity, methods to reduce human context-dependent learning, and the application of behavioral economics to basic and applied addictive phenomena. At the Center, he applied these methods to understanding the mechanisms and efficacy of clinical approaches to substance dependence. Dr. MacKillop has accepted a position as an Associate Project Director within the CAAS. He will continue to work on an NIAAA-funded project examining the biobehavioral effects of topiramate on alcohol use. In addition, he will continue to conduct research using modern learning theory to understand and treat alcohol misuse and other forms of addictive behavior. Dr. MacKillop is currently an Assistant Professor, University of Georgia.
2005-2006 Meghan McDevitt-Murphy received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Auburn University in 2004. Her graduate research focused on posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). She will continue her research investigating relationships between posttraumatic stress disorder and substance abuse and developing psychosocial treatment approaches for co-occurring PTSD and substance abuse. Dr. McDevitt-Murphy is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Memphis.
2004-2006 James Murphy received his Ph.D. from Auburn University. He conducts research related to young adult substance abuse, brief interventions, translational research, and behavioral economic approaches to understanding and reducing substance abuse. Dr. Murphy is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Memphis.
2004 - 2006 Alicia Justus received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University in 2004. She will remain at the CAAS, as Project Director on Dr. Robert Miranda's NIDA funded R21 investigating mechanisms relating conduct disorder and adolescent substance abuse. She also is currently awaiting a funding decision on her own R21, which she hopes to begin during the next year. This study will focus on the relationship between individual differences in responsiveness to contingency cues and drug related problems in adolescents. Dr. Justus is currently an Assistant Professor (Research), at Brown Medical School.
2004-2006 John Kelly received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from University of California, San Diego/San Diego State. He has taken a position as the Associate Director of Addiction Research, in the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and as Assistant Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. His recently awarded R01 from NIAAA examines the treatment process and outcomes for adolescent outpatients treated for substance use disorders with special emphasis on patient utilization and benefits from addiction mutual-help groups, such as Alcoholics Anonymous and Narcotics Anonymous. He is also working on a similar study among young adults being conducted in Minnesota. Dr. Kelly is currently an Assistant Professor, at Harvard Medical School.
2004 - 2006 Heather LaChance received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from University of Colorado/Boulder. Her interests include the comorbidity of substance use disorders and psychopathology, interpersonal/family treatment approaches, and mediators/moderators of treatment outcome. As a postdoctoral fellow, she explored innovative interpersonal interventions for comorbid substance abuse and psychopathology. Dr. LaChance is currently an Assistant Professor at the University Of Colorado Health Science Center, National Jewish Medical & Research Center.
2004-2006 John McGeary, Ph.D. received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology/Neuroscience from the University of Colorado in 2003. His primary research interest is the interaction of genetic and environmental factors in the etiology of addictive behaviors, particularly problematic alcohol consumption. His VA-funded Research Career Development award will examine the association of genetic variation in the neuropeptide Y gene and alcohol use. His other work involves addiction pharmacogenetics and the development of addiction-related endophenotypes for candidate gene association studies. Dr. McGeary is currently a Research Psychologist at the Providence VA and an Assistant Professor at Brown.
2004 - 2006 Jeffrey Meehan received his Ph.D. in clinical science and social cognitive neuroscience from Indiana University in 2004. His primary interest is in developing cognitive and neurobiological models to help explain the development of intimate relationship aggression. While a postdoctoral fellow, he plans to study the effect of alcohol consumption on behavioral and neurobiological processes suspected to be precursors to aggression and to examine the efficacy of a brief alcohol intervention in reducing alcohol use and violent recidivism in a sample of court-referred batterers. Dr. Meehan is currently an Assistant Project Director at Brown.
2004 - 2006 C. Teal Pedlow received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Syracuse University in 2004. Her research interests include HIV/STD prevention in adolescent and young women, co-occurrence of alcohol/substance abuse and sexual risk behaviors, the design of developmentally appropriate risk reduction interventions, and delivery of interventions in medical settings. Dr. Pedlow is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology at University of Massachusetts, Dartmouth where she will help to develop a new Ph.D. program in Health Psychology. She also will continue her research examining co-occurrence of alcohol use and sexual risk behaviors and designing HIV/STI prevention interventions for young women.
2004 - 2006 Daniel Squires received both a Ph.D. in clinical psychology and a M.P.H. from the University of New Mexico. His interests revolve around transdisciplinary approaches to the prevention and treatment of substance misuse, and the dissemination of evidence-based interventions. Dr. Squires is currently Investigator and Director of the Addiction Technology Tranfer Center of New England within the CAAS. As Director of the ATTC-NE, he will work closely with the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment to advance improvements for addiction treatment across the six New England states. In addition, he will continue to pursue his developing program of NIH research concerning the identification and testing of training and organizational change strategies intended to enhance the adoption and implementation of evidence-based practices for substance abuse.
2004-2005 Darci Nielsen received her Ph.D. in Pharmacology and Neuroscience from Albany Medical College in 1998. Dr. Nielsen's interests include basic science studies relating to behavioral neuropharmacology of anxiety, depression, schizophrenia, and comorbid substance abuse. Dr. Nielsen is currently a Research Scientist, at SPDP Foundation.
2003-2005 Brian Borsari received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Syracuse University in New York in 2003. He is currently an Assistant Professor (Research) Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS) at Brown University. He has published over 35 articles on a variety of areas, including the development and implementation of brief interventions with college student drinkers, the assessment and practical application of social norms on college campuses, the role of drinking games in risky drinking on campus, and social influences on alcohol. Dr. Borsari is also the principal investigator on a 5-year project funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism that implements adaptive treatment strategies with college students who have been referred for alcohol violations, as well as a 4-year funded project (by NIAAA) to identify in-session processes that are related to subsequent behavior change. Dr. Borsari is also a researcher/clinician at the Providence VAMC PTSD clinic. In this role, he has developed a research program examining interventions to improve sleep in veterans with PTSD, strategies of monitoring OIF/OEF veterans to encourage engagement in treatment for substance use (including smoking) and PTSD, and the use of virtual reality to treat PTSD in veterans. Dr. Borsari is currently an Assistant Professor at Brown.
2002-2005 Kimberly Leite-Morris received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Rhode Island in 2002. Her primary interest is in brain chemistry and circuitry that underlies the behavior leading to addiction. Her dissertation examined the effects of intra-VTA (ventral tegmental area) injection of a GABAB receptor agonist, on the acquisition and expression of morphine-induced behavioral sensitization and Fos protein expression in the nucleus accumbens. During her first year as a postdoctoral fellow at the CAAS Dr. Leite-Morris developed a model of ethanol-induced behavioral sensitization and is currently investigating whether intra-VTA injections of a GABAB receptor agonist will block ethanol-induced sensitization. In addition, she is examining whether GABA drugs will alter dopamine levels in the brain (via in vivo microdialysis) during ethanol seeking and consumption. Activation of GABA receptors may be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of alcohol addiction. Dr. Leite-Morris is currently an Assistant Professor at Boston University.
2001-2002 Johanna Lewis Esquerre received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Florida in 2001. Her dissertation "Development and Validation of an Adolescent Smoking Consequences Questionnaire" focused on the measurement of smoking expectancies among both smoking and non-smoking adolescents. Her interests include the measurement of nicotine dependence among adolescents, cognitive processes involved in adolescent smoking initiation, and intervention approaches in adolescent substance use. Dr. Lewis Esquerre also has more broad interests in the area of child health policy. Dr. Lewis Esquerre is currently in private practice at The Counseling Center, Nashua, NH.
2002 - 2004 Ana Abrantes received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from San Diego State University/University of California, San Diego Joint Doctoral Program in Clinical Psychology in 2002. Her interests include the comorbidity of substance use disorders and psychopathology among adolescent populations. As a postdoctoral fellow, she plans to explore the temporal sequencing of disorders, the relationship between specific psychiatric disorders and severity and type of substance involvement, and treatment outcomes among comorbid adolescents. Dr. Abrantes is currently an Assistant Professor at Brown University, and Research Associate at Butler Hospital.
2002- 2004 Chad Gwaltney received his Ph.D. in Clinical/Health Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh in 2002. His primary research interest is the process of relapse following an attempt to abstain from substance use, particularly cigarette smoking. To date, Chad's research has focused on how social-cognitive variables - self-efficacy and the expected effects of smoking - influence relapse. He is also interested in the development and application of novel assessment methods, including Ecological Momentary Assessment. Dr. Gwaltney is currently Assistant Professor (Research) at the Brown Medical School.
2002 - 2004 Christina Lee received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from New York University. Her primary areas of interest are: how clinician and patient characteristics interact to influence health outcomes such as diagnosis or patient compliance, clinician training to improve identification rates and treatment, examining interventions to reduce stereotyping in the treatment of substance abuse, and to identify the factors that reduce barriers to treatment for substance abuse. A related research interest is to evaluate the role of social factors as they mediate the relationship between ethnic minority status and substance abuse in adolescents. Dr. Lee is currently an Assistant Professor at Brown.
2002- 2003 Robert Miranda Jr. received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Oklahoma State University and respecialized in biological psychology at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. His research interests center on addiction, developmental psychopathology, and affective neuroscience. His recent work has examined individual differences in emotional reactivity among individuals comorbid alcohol dependence and antisocial personality disorder and in young adults with a family history of alcoholism. Dr. Miranda is currently an Assistant Professor at Brown University.
2001 - 2004 Todd Moore received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2001. His previous research included examining the attributions of verbally aggressive men in response to female partner behavior. His dissertation explored the role of men's adherence to masculinity in influencing their physiological and aggressive coping responses to female partner behavior that challenged masculinity. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Alcohol and Addictions Studies, he plans to integrate his interests in partner violence and alcohol/Illicit substance use and abuse by examining the impact of techniques to reduce alcohol and Illicit Substance use and their subsequent impact on partner violence. He also plans to examine the role of masculinity in mediating the relationship between substance use and partner violence. Dr. Moore is currently an Assistant Professor at the University of Tennessee.
2001 - 2003 Christianne Esposito-Smythers received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University in 2000. Her graduate research focused on examining the relative importance of psychiatric diagnoses and psychosocial factors to the prediction of adolescent suicidal ideation. As a postdoctoral fellow at the CAAS, she plans to combine her research interest in adolescent suicide with substance abuse. She is most interested in developing cognitive behavioral treatments for adolescent substance abusers with co-occurring suicidality. Dr. Esposito-Smythers is currently an Assistant Professor at George Mason University.
2000 - 2003 Karen Friend received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Maryland in 1997. Her main research interests include tobacco use and tobacco-related policies, particularly among individuals with substance use disorders. She is also conducting several studies examining neurocognitive correlates of tobacco, alcohol, and drug abuse. Dr. Friend is currently an Associate Research Scientist at Decision Sciences Institute.
2000 - 2003 Jennifer Read received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Rhode Island in May of 2000. Her primary research interest is the identification of cognitive, affective, and social factors that contribute to heavy drinking and associated consequences among young adults (especially college students). Within this area, Dr. Read is involved in ongoing collaborative work with a number of CAAS faculty, including Drs. Mark Wood, Christopher Kahler, and Nancy Barnett. Other research interests revolve around the development and evaluation of innovative substance abuse treatments. In particular, she is interested in the relationship between physical exercise and substance abuse recovery. Co-investigator on two federally funded studies (Richard Brown, PI) which examine structured physical exercise as an adjunct treatment for substance use disorders. Dr. Read is currently an Assistant Professor, SUNY, Buffalo.
2000 - 2002 Holly Sindelar received her Ph.D. in School Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 2000. She will be working with Dr. Paul Malloy to develop a program of research on the impact of adolescent substance abuse on neurocognitive development. Her interests include adolescent alcohol and other substance abuse and neuropsychological assessment. Dr. Sindelar is currently at Rhode Island Hospital, as a Staff Psychologist.
1999 - 2003 Irene Glasser received her Ph.D. in anthropology in 1986 from the University of Connecticut. Since that time she has been conducting research on homlessness, soup kitchens, mothers in prison, welfare, urban aboriginal peoples in Canada, and alcohol and drug use among the homeless. She is interested in developing effective treatment strategies for homeless individuals who are addicted to alcohol and drugs. She has written three books related to poverty and homelessness, and most recently wrote and taught about homelessness and alcohol in St. Petersburg Russia, through an NIAAA program. Dr. Glasser is currently Senior Research Analyst, Community Renewal Team.
1999 - 2001 Pamela Block received her Ph.D. in cultural anthropology from Duke University in 1997. Her dissertation "Biology, Culture and Cognitive Disability: Twentieth Century Professional Discourse in Brazil and the United States" addressed the influence of cultural beliefs and professional theories on disability policy and treatment. She will study the prevalence and consequences of alcohol and substance use in people with disabilities and the availability of intervention and treatment opportunities for this population. Dr. Block also plans to collaborate on the design of interventions for people with traumatic brain and spinal injury, and other disabilities resulting from the use of alcohol and substances.
1999 - 2002 Lynn Hall received her Ph.D. in anthropology from Temple University in 1998. She is interested in the extent to which various environmental factors interact in the etiology of substance abuse in gay, lesbian and transgendered communities. She is also interested in the efficacy of different forms of intervention, and treatment programs, specifically the examining the differences between gay specific treatment programs and programs which do not take sexual orientation into account.
2000 - 2001 Denise Bury-Maynard received her Ph.D. in Social Policy from the Heller School at Brandeis where she was an NIAAA pre-doctoral fellow. Her areas of interest and expertise are in the areas of cost-effectiveness analysis and outcomes research with a particular emphasis on quality of life outcomes. She plans to continue her work on refining a utility index for substance abuse (QALY methodology) and to compare and contrast quality of life outcomes using economic versus psychometric approaches. Dr. Bury-Maynard is currently an Independent Consultant working in Health outcomes and health services research.
1999 - 2001 Charles Neighbors received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Rutgers University in 1999. Dr. Neighbors will be developing a program of research on cost-effectiveness methods in clinical trials. He also plans to continue work on social networks' influence on substance use and targeting concurrent health-risk behaviors with treatment for alcoholism.
1999 - 2000 Jennifer Tidey received her Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Tufts University in 1995. Dr. Tidey's primary areas of interest are psychopharmacology laboratory studies, substance abuse in people with schizophrenia, and contingency management interventions. Dr. Tidey is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior Research at Brown University.
1998 - 2001 Selene Varney received her Psy.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana State University, Terre Haute in 1998. Dr. Varney primary interest is in coping skills used by adults to maintain sobriety and in quality of life issues during sobriety.
1998 - 2000 Lynda Stein received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Kent State University in 1998. Dr. Stein is interested in early intervention programs for youth and young adults, especially youths and adults involved in the legal system. She is also interested in methodological issues such as sample bias and the influence of biased response sets during substance abuse evaluations. Dr. Stein is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Brown University.
1998 - 2000 Laura Stroud received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Yale University in 1999. She is currently pursuing research examining the interactions of stress, the hypothalamic pituitary adrenocortical (HPA) axis and both alcohol and smoking. She is particularly interested in HPA reactivity, gender, and prenatal factors as markers for vulnerability to and nicotine dependence. She also has a line of research examining sex differences in physiological responses to stress. Dr. Stroud is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior Research at Brown University.
1998 - 2000 Gregory Stuart received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University, Bloomington in 1998. His primary research interests include: marital violence, psychological abuse, and marital functioning, with a particular emphasis on the comorbidity of marital violence and substance abuse; effectiveness research; and anxiety disorders/panic disorder and their relationship to substance use. He currently holds a position as a Research Psychologist at Butler Hospital and an adjunct faculty position at the Brown University Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies.
1998 - 2000 Sean Hagberg received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from SUNY Buffalo in 1998. Dr. Hagberg is interested in the application of non-linear models to addictions, specifically self-organized criticality. He is interested in the implications such models have for treatment and prevention policies.
1997 - 2000 Mitchell Karno received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of California, Santa Barbara in 1997. Dr. Karno's primary interest was identifying patient attributes that moderate the effectiveness of various treatments for alcoholism. He was supervised by Richard Longabaugh. Dr. Karno is currently an Assistant Professor at Brown University in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior. He is beginning a 3-year NIAAA-funded study of the in-session process of alcohol treatment.
1997 - 2000 Tracy O'Leary received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University at Albany, State University of New York in 1997. Dr. O’Leary’s primary area of interest is brief interventions for addictive behaviors among adolescents and young adults, with a focus on the impact of peer relations and involvement on treatment outcome. She works with Drs. Monti and Colby on their studies using motivational interviewing with teen smokers, and she is currently conducting a study at Johnson and Wales University on peer-enhanced motivational interviewing for college students who are referred for alcohol-related infractions. She currently holds a position as Research Associate and is the Project Director of a 5-year NIDA-funded study on teen smoking awarded to Dr. Monti. Dr. O’Leary-Tevyaw is currently a Clinical Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior at Brown University.
1998-1999 Tammy Chung received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Rutgers University in 1998. Her research interests included screening adolescents for problem drinking; examining how developmental issues affect the diagnosis of substance use disorders in adolescents; and studying the relationship between temperament, responses used to cope with negative affect, and substance abuse. Dr. Chung worked with Dr. Suzanne Colby. She continues her research as a post-doctoral fellow at Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic in Pittsburgh, PA.
1997-1999 Nancy Barnett received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington in 1997. Her primary area of research interest is the development of BRIEF alcohol intervention programs for adolescents and young adults. She is now the project director for a study on the use of motivational interviewing in an emergency room with alcohol-involved adolescents and young adults. Dr. Barnett also plans to design and evaluate the impact of a motivational intervention WITH college students who are mandated to attend alcohol education following an alcohol violation on campus. Dr. Barnett is currently an Associate Professor of Behavioral & Social Sciences at Brown.
1997-1999 Anthony Floyd received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Stanford University in 1997. His primary interest is in substance abuse treatment outcomes and implementation of cost-effective treatment programs. Dr. Floyd studied the impact of treatment duration, self-help groups, and maintenance care services on outcomes. Dr. Floyd worked with Dr. Norman Hoffmann. He holds a research associate appointment with Brown University.
1994-1998 Dena Davidson received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology at the Center for Neurobiology and Behavior at Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. During her CAAS fellowship, she worked with Dr. Robert Swift on basic human laboratory research to examine the effects of medications for lowering alcohol consumption and several clinical trials to test the efficacy of new medications for changing drinking behavior in alcoholics. Dr. Davidson is the recent recipient of a K award from NIAAA titled, ”Methods for Assessing Methods for Assessing Medications to Lower ETOH Intake.” She is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Indiana University, and the Director of Clinical Research on Substance Abuse. She continues to collaborate with Drs. Swift and Longabaugh on their grant titled “Combining Medications and Behavioral Interventions for Treating Alcoholism.”
1995-1998 Aruna Gogineni received her Ph.D. in Social Work from Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri. Her research interests involve the impact of psychosocial environment on alcohol treatment outcomes; the role of family history in the etiology of alcohol problems; and brief/early interventions for substance abusing populations. Dr. Gogineni worked with Drs. Longabaugh and Stout. She has received a Research Excellence Award from the Center to examine how gender differences in parental alcoholism affect alcoholism among adult female daughters and granted an R03 by NIAAA to conduct a further study in this area.
1995-1998 Kent Hutchison received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Oklahoma State University and completed his internship at Brown. His research is on the behavioral pharmacology of addiction, specifically with regard to alcohol abuse and alcoholism. Dr. Hutchison worked with Drs. Rohsenow, Monti, Swift, and Niaura. He received a FIRST award to integrate the startle reflex paradigm into a comprehensive laboratory approach that is designed to investigate the biological and cognitivemechanisms that underlie the acquisition and expression of addictive behaviors. He accepted a position as Assistant Professor at the University of Colorado.
1996-1998 Kathleen Morrow received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Western Michigan University. Her primary area of research interest includes the study of alcohol and drug-related behaviors and their association with HIV/STD infection. Her focus at the Center involved evaluating intervention strategies which examine how alcohol and drug use effects an individual's decision to engage in safer sex and needle-sharing behaviors and how other factors, (e.g., age, relationship status, psychiatric history) act as covariants in that process. She is currently working on an HIV/STD prevention program for young men leaving prison, a population that faces numerous drug using and drug trading/trafficking behaviors. She is also working on a smoking cessation intervention for HIV+ individuals, acceptability research involving vaginal microbicides for the prevention of HIV/STD infections, and an HIV/STD prevention program for substance abusing women. Dr. Morrow is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry& Human Behavior (Research) at Brown University.
1996 - 1998 Mark Wood received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from the University of Missouri. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychology with a joint appointment at the Cancer Prevention Research Center at the University of Rhode Island. His research interests are in three interrelated areas: (a) the psychosocial determinants and correlates of alcohol use/misuse and other health-related behaviors; (b) the design and evaluation of prevention and intervention programs targeting substance abuse and other socially problematic behaviors; and (c) alcohol-related aggressive behavior. Dr. Wood is the principal investigator on two recently funded grants. The first is a FIRST award from NIAAA to determine whether individualized normative feedback and alcohol expectancy challenges are effective in reducing alcohol abuse among college students. The second grant is from the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation and is designed to examine the role of alcohol expectancies and social influences factors in alcohol use and abuse during the early college years. Dr. Wood is currently an Associate Professor at University of Rhode Island and an Adjunct Professor of Behavioral & Social Sciences at Brown.
1995-1997 Susan Ramsey received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Indiana University. While at the Center her primary areas of interest were brief alcohol interventions in primary care settings and the impact of comorbidity on substance abuse treatment. Dr. Ramsey worked with Drs. Longabaugh, Stout and Rick Brown. She has accepted a position as investigator at Brown University and project director at Butler Hospital. The project she is directing will examine the efficacy of adding cognitive-behavioral treatment for depression, relative to relaxation training, to a standard partial hospital alcohol treatment for alcohol dependent patients with concomitant depressive symptoms. This is an NIAAA-funded project. Dr. Ramsey is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (Research) at Brown University.
1994-1997 Tibor Palfai received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Yale University and completed his internship at Brown. During his fellowship he studied the influence of cognitive strategies on cue reactivity using the alcohol cue exposure paradigm. His primary interests were information processing mechanisms underlying cross-addictions and understanding how treatments directed at different mechanisms of change (e.g., biological, cognitive, motivational) may be optimally integrated. Dr. Palfai worked with Dr. Monti and Rohsenow. He is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at Boston University.
1995-1997 David Kalman received his Ph.D. in social work from Simmons College. His primary research interests are in smoking cessation and smoking and alcohol interactions. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Kalman worked primarily with Dr. Monti. Following his postdoctoral training, Dr. Kalmanwas the Director of Substance Abuse Treatment Services for a large multi-site agency north of Boston. Dr. Kalman recently began work on a FIRST Award project involving smoking cessation treatment for recovering alcoholics who are heavy smokers.
1995-1997 Thaddeus Herzog received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University. While at the Center he worked with Dr. Abrams studying the stages and processes of change model. Dr. Herzog is now a post-doctoral fellow at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and a visiting assistant professor at the University of South Florida in Tampa, Florida.
1994-1997 Walter Adams received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Michigan State University in 1988. A central focus of his research looks at the relationship between dietary tryptophan and alcohol consumption for which he received an R03 from NIAAA. This is the focus of study for a CAAS research excellence award he received. Secondary interests, stemming from his training in anthropology, are ethnicity and cultural influences on drinking and drug use. Dr. Adams worked with Drs. Swift and Love.
1994-1996 - Kenneth E. Hart received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology/Behavioral Medicine from the University of Houston in 1986. Prior to coming to the Center, Dr. Hart was an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Hofstra University, Long Island, New York. As an applied Social Psychologist interested in clinical health psychology, most of his research focused on vulnerability-stress models of health risk (e.g., stress, personality, social support, coping). Dr. Hart worked with Dr. Longabaugh. Upon leaving the Center, he accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Wales (Britain), and subsequently relocated to England, where he is an Assistant Professor at the University of Leeds, about two hours north of London. Currently, Ken is a PI on a $190,000.00 grant from the John Templeton Foundation, which provides support for a 2 year patient-treatment matching study examining anger and forgiveness among recovering alcoholic members of Alcoholics Anonymous. He is also a co-PI on a 2 year $189,000.00 multi-site grant from the Alcohol Education Research Council to examine underage use of alcohol and other drugs of abuse, and illegal alcohol purchasing patterns by adolescents in Britain. Findings from this research are informing policy decisions of the British Government regarding the purchasing and sales of alcohol to young people.
1994-1996 - Barry Goetz received his Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of California, Berkeley in 1991. His interests are in theories of the state, policy implementation, bureaucracy and law enforcement. His current research is on community policing as an alcohol and drug enforcement and harm reduction measure. He has accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Sociology at the University of Dayton. Dr. Goetz is looking at the community policing-drug policy issue supported by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. The research includes a national survey and case studies in four cities, including Norfolk, Baltimore, San Francisco and Lansing, MI. Dr. Goetz was supervised by Dr. Lewis.
1994-1996 - Maureen Norton Hawk received her Ph.D. in Sociology from Northeastern University. She studied the impact of the interface of law and medicine on substance abuse treatment and how that interface is socially determined. She examined the treatment needs of pregnant addicted women who do not avail themselves of medical services. Dr. Norton Hawk worked with Dr. Lewis. Dr. Hawk is currently an Assistant Professor at Suffolk University. She is working on a joint project with the Boston Police Department examining the interrelationship between drugs and female street prostitution, conducting a needs assessment of the children of incarcerated females, and collaborating on a comparison of rural vs. urban female detainees. Her work has also expanded into the international sphere through her research with colleagues in Slovakia and Ukraine.
1993-1996 - Leslie Chernen received her Ph.D. from the New School for Social Research in 1988. Prior to her arrival at Brown Dr. Chernen was an Assistant Clinical Professor in Psychiatry at the Health Science Center, Brooklyn, in the Sate University of New York. Dr. Chernen conducted research in the area of alcohol-related birth defects and fetal alcohol syndrome babies and their mothers. She received an R03 award from NIAAA for a study entitled Predicting Fetal Alcohol Effects Via Biobehavioral Risk, and a B/Start award from NIDA entitled Cocaine/Alcohol Exposure and Infant Outcome. Dr. Chernen worked under the supervision of Drs. Lester, Lipsitt and Love. She currently holds a position with the Rhode Island Public Health Foundation.
1993-1995 - James Hittner received his Ph.D. from Hofstra University in 1993 in Clinical and School Psychology. His research focused on the relationship between outcome expectancies and alcohol use onset and maintenance, the association between expectancies and mood, and the role of cognitive appraisal in stress-related drinking. Dr. Hittner worked with Drs. Richard Brown, Damaris Rohsenow and Amy Rubin. He accepted a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at College of Charleston.
1993-1995 - Oleg Kuznetsov received his M.D. from the Medical Institute in Lvov, UkSSR in 1974 and did his psychiatric residency at Zolochev’s Regional Hospital in UkSSR. In 1975 he received a Scientific Certificate from the Main Psychiatry Institute of USSR Academy of Sciences at Moscow. Prior to his affiliation at Brown he worked as an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Substance Abuse at the Lvov Medical Institute for Advanced Education for Physicians (UkSSR) where he performed research in the field of substance abuse and affective disorders. While at Brown, Dr. Kuznetsov worked with Dr. Swift at Roger Williams Medical Center conducting studies of the effect of several medications, such as Naltrexone, Ondansetron and Idazoxan, on acute alcohol intoxication in humans. He has also performed the investigation on calibrating a new experimental device - Transdermal Alcohol Sensor/Recorder. In 1994-95 he conducted a self-designed pilot study for pharmacokinetical measures of alcohol catabolism features in alcoholic humans supported by the Department of Psychiatry at Roger Williams Hospital. As a result, the U.S. Patent No. 5,783,449 is recently granted on his elaboration on quantification of alcohol breakdown activity in humans in vivo.
1993-1995 - Kevin Lourie received his Ph.D. in Medical and Cultural Anthropology from Brown University in 1990. Prior to his admission to the post-doctoral training program he was a lecturer at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem (1990-1993) and the Bar-Ilan University School of Social Work (1992). While at the Center, Dr. Lourie focused on the interrelationships between alcohol, drug, and sex behaviors and the implementation of HIV prevention programs for high risk urban populations. He designed and implemented an HIV-prevention program for young adolescent mothers at Rhode Island Hospital's Teen Tot Clinic. He also worked with Dr. Larry K. Brown to implement and evaluate an HIV prevention program for psychiatrically hospitalized adolescents and assisted Dr. Timothy Flanigan in the evaluation of a prison release follow-up program for HIV-positive women at Rhode Island's correctional facility. He subsequently completed a two-year, NIMH-funded training fellowship in the Child and Family Psychiatry Division of Brown University, where he is currently a faculty Investigator. Dr. Lourie and Dr. Brown recently received a four-year grant funded by SAMHSA to design and test a brief HIV prevention program for patients in the Adolescent Health Clinic.
1992-1995 - David Duncan Dr. P.H., received the Doctor of Public Health degree in 1976 from the University of Texas health Science Center at Houston. Immediately prior to coming to Brown he was consultant epidemiologist for the Illinois Primary Health Care Association, working with rural and migrant health centers. Before that he was Professor of Health Education and Coordinator of the Community Health Program at Southern Illinois University. While at the Center he developed measures for use in drug policy analysis, examined harm reduction as a policy option, studied the prevalence of substance abuse among the elderly, and examined the acceptability of naltrexone in treatment of alcoholism. Since completing his post-doc he has served as Senior Public Health Epidemiologist with the Rhode Island Department of Health and for two years operated his own private consulting firm --Duncan and Associates. He is now Senior Study Director of the substance abuse division of Westat Corporation, a statistical consulting firm in Rockville, Maryland, where his clients include the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy. He holds a faculty appointment as Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Health at Brown and as Professor of Psychology at Capella University.
1992-1995 - P. Allison Minugh received her Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 1992. Dr. Minugh studied gender roles and their relationship to alcohol use. While she was a post-doctoral fellow, Dr. Minugh worked with Dr. Longabaugh and collaborated with him in the development of an NIAAA-funded study of brief intervention for alcohol positive injured patients in the Emergency Department for which she is currently a Co-Investigator. She received a CAAS research excellence award to develop a brief intervention for women with alcohol problems. Dr. Minugh left the Center to accept a faculty position at Harvard Medical School where she studied substance abuse treatment needs with an emphasis on adolescent substance abuse and their treatment needs. She also served as the evaluator of the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment's national needs assessment program. She is presently working at her own consulting firm, DATACORP, which is based in Providence, Rhode Island.
1992-1995 - Eric Wagner received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1992 from the University of Pittsburgh. During his tenure at the Center, he developed a grant proposal evaluating the effectiveness of a school-based intervention for alcohol use problems among teenagers. This grant eventually was funded by NIAAA as an R01. Dr. Wagner also is a Co-Investigator on a NIDA-funded R01 grant longitudinally examining substance use trajectories in a multi-ethnic sample of adolescents during the transition to young adulthood. Most recently, Dr. Wagner received a second R01 grant from NIAAA to evaluate the effectiveness of brief substance abuse intervention for first time juvenile offenders. Dr. Wagner is an Associate Professor in the College of Urban and Public Affairs at Florida International University.
1992-1994 - Clara Bradizza received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1992 from SUNY - Binghamton, NY and completed a clinical psychology internship at Brown University. As a post-doctoral Fellow, Dr. Bradizza studied exposure to negative emotional cues during alcohol cue exposure, and published a theoretical paper on cognitions and cue exposure. Her primary focus was on the role of emotions in drinking urges and relapse. She was supervised by Drs. Maisto and Longabaugh. Dr. Bradizza is currently a Senior Research Scientist at the Research Institute on Addictions in Buffalo, NY. Although she has continued her interests in alcohol and drug cue exposure, her primary area of interest is coping skills assessment and treatment of individuals dually-diagnosed with a drug disorder and a serious mental illness. She has received a 5-year Mentored Research Scientist Development Award from NIDA to fund her work in this area.
1992-1994 - Pamela Brown received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1992 at Clark University, MA. While at the Center she studied the interrelationship of substance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in women. Dr. Brown worked under the supervision of Dr. Stout. She received a CAAS research excellence award in preparation for a first grant submission, PTSD and substance abuse relapse, which was awarded by NIAAA for five years, starting in 1995. She currently holds a position as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Brown University.
1992-1994 - Leslie Young received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1992 from Boston University. While at the Center as a post-doctoral Fellow she focused on the role of childhood trauma in substance abusers. Dr. Young worked under the supervision of Drs. Longabaugh and Rice. Dr. Young is now Director of Behavioral Health on the San Carlos Apache Reservation in Arizona where she is coordinating the department’s research efforts.
1991-1993 - Paul Stasiewicz received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at SUNY - Binghamton in 1989. During his fellowship years he worked with Drs. Monti, Rohsenow, and Maisto. He is currently funded by NIAAA and his research focuses on environmental context effects and their influence on craving for alcohol. He is a senior research scientist and the Director of the Clinical Research Center, the outpatient alcohol treatment clinic at the Research Institute on Addictions in Buffalo, NY.
1991-1993 - Stephen Cabral received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from Brown University in 1978. While at the Center he worked with Drs. John Stevenson and Pat Clifford in an ethnographic study of AIDS related risk behaviors among minority IV drug users and their sexual partners in New Bedford, MA and Pawtucket, RI. Dr. Cabral also collaborated with Drs. Lewis and Wagner on the Global Cocaine Survey for WHO. Dr. Cabral teaches courses in Maritime Anthropology and Drugs in Society and Culture at URI and UMass-Dartmouth.
1991-1993 - Mark Myers received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 1991 from the University of California, San Diego and completed a clinical psychology internship at Brown. During his time as a post-doctoral Fellow at the Center, Dr. Myers initiated studies of adolescent substance abuse, and was awarded a FIRST award grant from NIDA to study adolescent substance abusers with conduct disorders. He also collaborated in successful grant submissions with other investigators at the Center. Dr. Myers worked with Drs. Monti and Rohsenow. He is currently an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California, San Diego, and a staff psychologist at the V.A. San Diego Healthcare System where he continues to investigate adolescent and adult substance abuse and is conducting studies of adolescent smoking cessation.
1990-1992 - Abdullah Mehdipour received his Ph.D. in Sociology from Western Michigan University in 1985. He is currently president of New Insights and founder and coordinator of Substance Abuse Certificate Program at the University of Southern Colorado and teaches at that university. He has been serving as chairperson of City of Colorado Springs/El Paso County Task Force on Alcohol and other Drugs for the past three years.
1990-1992 - Amy Rubin received her Ph.D. in Counseling Psychology from SUNY Buffalo in 1990. During her fellowship years she worked with Dr. Longabaugh. She is currently a co-principal investigator working with Dr. Stout on an NIAAA-funded grant, Extended Case Monitoring for Alcoholics: Health Costs. The project looks at the effectiveness of low cost, long-term intervention to prevent or mitigate relapse in treated alcohol abusers. She is an Assistant Professor (Research) of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown.
1990-1991 - David Solomon, M.D. received his M.D. degree at the Boston University School of Medicine in 1986. He worked with Dr. Malloy during his fellowship looking at cognitive impairment and the interaction of alcohol and head injury. Dr. Solomon is now Assistant Director of the Mood Disorders Program at Rhode Island Hospital and a Clinical Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at Brown University.
1990-1991 - Suzy Bird Gulliver received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Vermont in 1990. During her post-doctoral training she worked with Drs. Monti and Rohsenow. She is a Research Associate in the Department of Psychiatry at Brown University, and an Assistant Clinical Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston University. Dr. Gulliver is Director of Health Psychology at the Boston VAMC outpatient clinic. Dr. Gulliver’s addiction research is in the areas of smoking, alcohol treatment outcome and broad spectrum treatment for alcoholism.
1989-1991 - Patrick R. Clifford, Ph.D. received his degree in Community Health Science from the University of Texas School of Public Health in 1983. While at the Center he worked with Dr. Longabaugh and other Center faculty. Dr. Clifford is currently an Associate Professor at New York University. He is a Co-Principal Investigator on Dr. Longabaugh's grant, ED brief intervention for ETOH positive injured patients.
1989-1991- Craig Love, Ph.D. received his degree in Educational Psychology from Temple University in 1978. During his fellowship, he worked with Dr. Longabaugh on treatment matching. Dr. Love continues at Brown as a Research Associate in the Department of Community Health and as a private consultant, working with EMT Associates, an evaluation firm based in Sacramento, California, HRC Associates, a Denver, Colorado based criminal justice evaluation agency, and the George Washington University Health Sciences Research Center. He is currently Principal Investigator on a Robert Wood Johnson funded evaluation of the cost-effectiveness of drug abuse treatment in prisons. Dr. Love is also Senior Evaluator on a national cross-site evaluation of 50 high risk youth prevention projects; Associate Director of a CSAT funded evaluation of an integrated treatment network in Denver; Co-Principal Investigator on a NIDA funded randomized clinical trials study of the cost-effectiveness of aftercare in traditional substance abuse treatment settings and has recently completed a 5 year, CSAP funded, high risk urban Native American substance abuse prevention project. Dr. Love's research projects include substance abuse treatment and prevention among urban and rural Native American communities as well as substance abuse treatment issues in the criminal justice system, particularly in prisons and courts. His project with George Washington University includes an innovative application of a drug court model in the non-criminal family dependency court. This innovation, called family drug court, involves the provision of case management and treatment access to parents who face custody issues regarding their children.
1989-1991 - Christopher Martin, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. He was the recipient of a FIRST award research grant from NIAAA, and two research grants from the Alcoholic Beverage Medical Research Foundation. He is currently the recipient of an Independent Scientist Award (K02) from NIAAA, and is a co-investigator on several other NIAAA and NIDA-funded grants. He is an Associate Director of an NIMH-funded postdoctoral fellowship program on adult psychiatry. Dr. Martin is the Director of the Taxonomy and Diagnosis project in the NIAAA-funded Pittsburgh Adolescent Alcohol Research Center. He has served as an associate editor for the journal Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research, and is currently a consulting editor for the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. He is a member of the Robert Wood Johnson-funded Tobacco Etiology Research Network. He is a member of NIAAA’s Alcohol Psychosocial Research Review Committee, Clinical and Treatment Subcommittee.
1989-1991 - Rock L. Clapper, Ph.D. received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology at the University of Houston in 1989. Since leaving Psychiatry and CAAS, he has focused on leveraging his skills as an Applied Social Psychologist in the area of business development and management. Except for a one year appointment as the National Director for Evaluation at Stanford University's Accelerated Schools Project in the School of Education, he has been involved in the software world of Silicon Valley. His most recent role as CEO of School Time Software gained him the attention of Venture Capital investors and business partners. The rapid growth of the internet has drawn him into his current position as CEO and President of Transaic, an Ecommerce company. While at the Center he worked under the supervision of Dr. Lipsitt.
1988-1991 - Ronald Murphy, Ph.D. received his degree in Clinical Psychology from SUNY Binghamton in 1988. While at the Center he worked with Drs. Maisto, McKay, Lipsitt, and Logue on several projects. Dr. Murphy is now doing research at the National Center for PTSD in the Menlo Park, California VA Hospital and has a FIRST award to continue his research.
1988-1990 - Margaret Goldberg, Ph.D. received her degree in Anthropology from the University of Illinois in 1985. Subsequent to completion of the program, she accepted a position with the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Research Center at McLean Hospital, collaborating on studies of female alcoholics.
1988-1990 - James McKay, Ph.D. received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Harvard University in 1987. During his fellowship, he worked with Drs. Maisto and Longabaugh. Dr. McKay is now working as an investigator at the Addiction Research Center at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine where he holds an appointment as Assistant Professor. Dr. McKay is principal investigator for several research grants on substance abuse.
1988-1990 - Paul Schnur, Ph.D. received his degree in Experimental Psychology from Indiana University in 1970. While at the Center he worked at Roger Williams Hospital with Dr. Robert Swift, and at the Brown University Department of Psychology with Dr. Michael Walker. Dr. Schnur is now Chair and Professor of Psychology at Indiana University South Bend. His research is on the cognitive consequences of drug craving.
1988-1989 - Hilton Parmentier, M.D. received his degree from Ross University in 1984. While at the Center he worked in the VA Medical Center, under the supervision of Dr. Michael Liepman. Dr. Parmentier completed his psychiatric residency training at the Medical College of WI. He is the medical director of Marathon of R.I., Inc.
1988-1989 - Alan Shein, M.D. received his degree in Radiology from the Medical College of PA in 1983. His supervisor during his fellowship at Brown was Dr. Alan Wartenberg. He currently holds the position of Director of Medical Services at Laurelwood Hospital in Ohio.
1988-1989 - Cynthia Cimino, Ph.D. received her degree in Clinical Psychology from the University of Florida in 1988. During her post-doctoral training, she worked with Dr. Malloy. She is an Associate Professor in the Departments of Psychology and Neurology, College of Medicine at the University of South Florida where she continues her research.
1988-1989 - Michael Wolfson, M.D., M.P.H. received his degree in Occupational Medicine from SUNY College of Medicine - Syracuse in 1981. During his fellowship at the Center, he worked with Drs. Alan Wartenberg and Michael Liepman. Dr. Wolfson accepted a staff position in Syracuse, New York.
1987-1990 - Linda Parker, Ph.D. was accepted into our program as our first pre-doctoral trainee. She was an Anthropology student at Brown and received her Ph.D. in 1989. She continued her training as a post-doctoral Fellow for a third year. While at the Center she worked under the direction of Drs. Heath and Longabaugh. She is currently an Associate Professor of Anthropology and Sociology at Louisiana State University-Eunice, where she is also Director of Grants and Assessment. She also works among the Koasati (Coushatta) Indians in Elton, LA.
1987-1989 - Susan Cunningham, Ph.D. received her degree in Sociology from the University of Maryland in 1986. At Brown, she worked under the supervision of Dr. Richard Longabaugh. Dr. Cunningham is Associate Director of the Center for Interdisciplinary and Special Studies at Holy Cross in Worcester, MA, where she is in charge of developing and supervising interdisciplinary academic programs. As a follow-up of earlier research on the social psychological and structural factors related to the drinking-child abuse connection, she is working on analyses of factors influencing mothers' drinking-child abuse patterns.
1987-1989 - Perilou Goddard, Ph.D. came to Brown from Indiana University where she received her degree in Clinical Psychology in 1987. While at the Center she worked with Drs. Monti and Rohsenow at the VAMC. She is now an Associate Professor of Psychology at Northern Kentucky University, where she was chose as the 1999-2000 recipient of the Frank Sinton Milburn Outstanding Professor Award.
1987-1989 - Mary Ellin Logue, Ed.D. received her degree in Early Childhood Education from U. Mass, Amherst in 1984. She worked at the Child Study Center under the supervision of Drs. Lipsitt and Longabaugh. Dr. Logue is currently a Senior Research Associate at RMC Research in Portsmouth NH and is working on two projects: a training contract for the National Head Start Bureau and U.S. Department of Education-funded project supporting state parent resource centers.
1987-1989 - Anthony V. Rubonis, Ph.D. received his degree in Clinical Psychology and Social Psychology from Vanderbilt University in 1987. He carried out his post-doctoral training working collaboratively with Drs. Monti and Rohsenow. He is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Union College (Schenectady, New York) where he continues his research investigating various links between moods and addictive behavior.
1987-1989 - Loretta Young Silvia, Ph.D. received her degree in Marriage and Family Therapy from Texas Tech in 1987. While at the Center she worked in the Providence VA system, under the joint supervision of Drs. Liepman and Nirenberg. Dr. Silvia is now an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Medicine at Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. She is currently developing a substance abuse prevention program for parents of elementary school children supported by a United Way grant. She was named a Distinguished Alumni by the College of Human Sciences, Texas Tech University.