CENTER FOR ADDICTION MEDICINE AT MGH - Key Persons

A. Eden Evins - Founder

Job Titles:
  • Founding Director
  • Principal Investigator
  • Director, Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
  • Professor
Dr. Evins is the Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry in the field of addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School and the founder and director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at MGH. Dr. Evins completed her residency in adult psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and the Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program. In addition, she completed…more Dr. Evins is the Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry in the field of addiction medicine at Harvard Medical School and the founder and director of the Center for Addiction Medicine at MGH. Dr. Evins completed her residency in adult psychiatry at the Massachusetts Mental Health Center and the Longwood Psychiatry Residency Training Program. In addition, she completed a fellowship in molecular biology at the Mailman Research Center of McLean Hospital, a fellowship in clinical research at Massachusetts General Hospital, and a Masters in Public Health with a concentration in Clinical Effectiveness at the Harvard School of Public Health in 2005. Dr. Evins has 17 years of consecutive NIDA funding to conduct, as PI, studies of the efficacy of pharmacotherapeutic cessation aids in smokers with and without serious mental illness, and of the effect of nicotine on cognitive performance in those with and without schizophrenia. She has also conducted NIDA-funded studies of behavioral, physiologic, and fMRI-ascertained assessments of impulsivity, risk-taking, reactivity to drug-related cues, and the relationship between cue reactivity and relapse to drug use. A newer line of investigation explores the effect of cannabis on psychiatric symptoms, cognitive function, and addictive behaviors. She has conducted a series of studies that have changed clinical practice guidelines for smoking cessation for those with serious mental illness. Cochrane Reviews on smoking cessation in schizophrenia are based largely on this work (Tsoi et al.; 2010, 2013 Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews). Dr. Evins has extensive ties with Community Health Centers that have made it possible to conduct large clinical studies. She has been PI of a 10-site multi-center study conducted in community mental health centers across 6 US states. She has mentored over 35 junior investigators, many with K awards, and has authored over 100 publications, including 42 publications with a mentee as first author.

Alec Bodolay

Job Titles:
  • Programmer
Alec Bodolay graduated from University of California Santa Barbara with a Bachelor of Science in Biopsychology. At the center, he acts primarily as a data manager for a variety of ongoing studies with a focus on a new drug education program implemented across middle and high schools in Massachusetts. This study provides each one with an intervention that can be used as an alternative to punishment substance use infractions in school grounds. Alec is mainly interested in drug development and discovery, and hopes to research more sustainable ways to treat mental disorders and neurological diseases in his growing career.

Alexandra Abry

Job Titles:
  • Director of Operations and Finance, Recovery Research Institute
Alexandra Abry graduated from Bates College, where she received her Bachelors degree in Psychology. At the Recovery Research Institute, Alexandra has worked on a variety of projects, including the Cochrane review on Alcoholics Anonymous and 12-Step Facilitation, a SAMHSA systematic review on recovery support services, the National Recovery Study, and the Recovery Community Center study, among others.

Bertha K. Madras

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
Dr. Madras led a multidisciplinary, collaborative team of experts in medicinal chemistry and drug design, molecular and cell biology, behavioral biology, and brain imaging to investigate psychoactive and therapeutic drug mechanisms in nonhuman primates and humans, focusing on dopamine signaling systems and medication development, cloning of multiple drug targets, and genotype/phenotype associations. The goal was to clarify immediate and downstream targets of psychoactive drugs and develop novel diagnostic and therapeutic strategies to alleviate the burden of neuropsychiatric disorders. She holds 19 US and 27 international patents. She served as Deputy Director for Demand Reduction in the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, a position confirmed unanimously by the US Senate. She now serves on the White House Opiate Task Force. In government service, she focuses on public health challenges of addictive disorders, especially those related to marijuana and opioid use. She has organized three White House medical education conferences and convened government groups to educate healthcare providers on the need to identify and intervene with at risk patients and to raise awareness of the trajectory and consequences of current opioid prescribing practices. At the Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), she initiated policy and grant initiatives, including Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT), and made state medical licensing boards and medical associations aware of the need to educate physicians on the consequences of vastly increased opioid prescriptions. Her complex portfolio included oversight of National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) drug policy, where she supported rapid publication of their research into roadside testing of multiple drugs/metabolites and a research program to determine the relationship between blood and saliva drug levels and prevalence of accidents. She now leads a preclinical research program focused on contrasting responses of the adolescent and adult brain to drugs of abuse (e.g., THC and psychostimulants) and serves as a consultant on marijuana and other drugs for the U.S. Department of Justice, the CDC (SBIRT), the Vatican, and the World Health Organization (WHO). She authored a definitive report on the medicinal uses of cannabis (Dec. 2015) and co-authored the 2016 report on the health and social effects of marijuana for the WHO Expert Committee on Drug Dependence.

Bettina Hoeppner

Job Titles:
  • Director of Biostatistics, Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Hoeppner is a health psychologist with expertise in fine-grained longitudinal methodology, which she uses to explicate the mechanisms underlying behavioral change. During her graduate training (Univ. of RI, MA in psychology in 2003, MS in statistics in 2005, Ph.D. in psychology in 2007), Dr. Hoeppner collaborated on numerous health behavior change projects, which used computer-delivered expert systems based on the Transtheoretical Model to provide participants with tailored intervention materials. Thereafter, she completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the Center of Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University that focused on addictive behaviors, particularly alcohol and tobacco use in adolescents and young adults. Dr. Hoeppner joined the Center for Addiction Medicine in 2010. Her K01 research project uses Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) to delineate the temporal ordering of changes in smoking outcome expectancies relative to smoking cessation by collecting fine-grained, real-time data on college student smokers undergoing smoking cessation treatment. As such, her five-year K01 training and research plan builds upon her existing strengths of advanced statistical training and experience with theory-driven health behavior interventions to enable her to take full advantage of modern technology to delineate the causal mechanisms underlying the process of smoking cessation. Dr. Hoeppner is a health psychologist with expertise in fine-grained longitudinal methodology, which she uses to explicate the mechanisms underlying behavioral change. During her graduate training (Univ. of RI, MA in psychology in 2003, M.S. in statistics in 2005, Ph.D. in psychology in 2007), Dr. Hoeppner collaborated on numerous health behavior change projects, which used…more

Brandon G. Bergman

Job Titles:
  • Research Scientist
  • Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School
  • Associate Director of the Recovery Research Institute
  • Associate Director, Research Recovery Institute
Brandon G. Bergman, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director at the Recovery Research Institute (RRI). He is also the RRI Associate Director of Communications, providing content and oversight for the RRI website, and the monthly RRI Recovery Bulletin. Dr. Bergman's research targets the intersection between professional-clinical and freely accessible, community-based services for individuals with substance use disorder including…more Brandon G. Bergman, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and Associate Director at the Recovery Research Institute (RRI). He is also the RRI Associate Director of Communications, providing content and oversight for the RRI website, and the monthly RRI Recovery Bulletin. Dr. Bergman's research targets the intersection between professional-clinical and freely accessible, community-based services for individuals with substance use disorder including, but not limited to, those in the life stage of emerging adulthood (i.e., ages 18-29). Dr. Bergman's primary line of research, funded by a career development award (K23) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, examines the nature and utility of participation in online, digital recovery support services, as well as the use of social network site data to elucidate social-recovery processes. He completed his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology at Nova Southeastern University, and his psychology internship and addiction psychology postdoctoral fellowship at the Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Bergman is also a licensed clinical psychologist, actively treating individuals with substance use disorder and related problems, as well as family members who are supporting their loved ones with these conditions.

Bryn Evohr

Job Titles:
  • Programmer / Clinical Research Coordinator II
Bryn Evohr graduated from Emory University in 2022 with a Bachelor of Science in psychology and minors in quantitative science and Spanish. At CAM, she works primarily with Dr. Gilman on the prescription opioid tapering study, which looks at the effect of medical marijuana and behavioral interventions on pain and opioid dose. She also works with Dr. Tervo-Clemmens on a study assessing real-world day-to-day associations between impulsivity and cannabis use. Her research interests include behavioral support and treatment interventions for populations with physical disabilities and chronic illnesses, as well as health equity and mental health treatment relating to these populations.

CAM Research

Job Titles:
  • Physician

Caroline Gray

Job Titles:
  • Project Manager, IDECIDE
Caroline Gray received a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Virginia Tech and her M.S.W. from the University of South Carolina. Caroline joined CAM in July 2021 and works primarily on the iDECIDE project, under Dr. Randi Schuster. Prior to her time at CAM, she was at the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, where she was a project manager of the SAMHSA funded initiative, the Opioid Response Network, as well as at the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center. Prior to her work in project management, she was a staff therapist at South Bay Community Services, where she provided community-based behavioral health services in the Southcoast region of Massachusetts. Her professional interests include increasing access to culturally responsive prevention, treatment, and recovery resources and services for substance use disorders.

Cori Cather

Job Titles:
  • Director
  • Director of Psychological Services, MGH Schizophrenia Program
  • Director, MGH Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Corinne Cather earned her undergraduate degree in biopsychology at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY and her doctorate in clinical psychology from Rutgers University where she received specialized training in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral medicine. She completed an internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (formerly Rutgers) and joined…more Cori Cather, Ph.D. Director Psychology Services MGH Schizophrenia Program, Assistant in Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital, Assistant Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School Director of Psychological Services, MGH Schizophrenia Program; Psychologist, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Psychology, Harvard Medical School

Corrie L. Vilsaint

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Recovery Health Equity at the MGH Recovery Research Institute
  • Instructor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
  • Research Fellow
Dr. Corrie Vilsaint serves as the Associate Director of Recovery Health Equity at the MGH Recovery Research Institute, research scientist at the Center for Addiction Medicine, and Instructor at Harvard Medical School…more Dr. Corrie Vilsaint serves as the Associate Director of Recovery Health Equity at the MGH Recovery Research Institute, research scientist at the Center for Addiction Medicine, and Instructor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Vilsaint is a community psychologist and an international speaker, whose work has been recognized by an award from the American Psychological Association. Her research endeavors have focused on racial health equity in remission and recovery, reducing recovery-related discrimination, building recovery capital, and the effectiveness of recovery support services.

Daniel Singer

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
  • Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School Professor in Department of Epidemiology, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
In his work, Dr. Singer has applied epidemiologic methods, including both observational studies and randomized trials, to common medical conditions. He is most widely recognized for his contributions to stroke prevention in atrial fibrillation. As a result of working with Dr. Nancy Rigotti for more than 20 years, he has also accumulated substantial content knowledge in nicotine addiction and smoking cessation. Dr. Singer has extensive experience in mentoring postdoctoral fellows, doctoral students, and junior faculty pursuing projects and careers in clinical research. In all, he has mentored over 50 individuals, the vast majority of whom remain in academic medicine and many of whom are notable leaders in their respective fields of clinical investigation. He received one of three 2007-2008 Harvard Medical School (HMS) William Silen Mentoring Awards, HMS' highest honor for mentoring. He also has directed or co-directed two core courses in the Program in Clinical Effectiveness (PCE) at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health. PCE is the primary didactic training path for clinical research training for fellows and junior faculty at Harvard. Over the past 27 years, this course has trained more than 3000 such individuals. In the process, he has personally reviewed more than 1000 research proposals from fellows and junior faculty. He also directed the Massachusetts General Hospital General Medicine Research Fellowship for more than 30 years. He has served as primary mentor or member of the mentor advisory committee on multiple K awards.

Davida Schiff

Job Titles:
  • Medical Director of the HOPE Clinic at MGH, Instructor in Pediatrics at HMS
Dr. Schiff completed her medical training at the Boston University School of Medicine, pediatrics residency in the Boston Combined Residency Program at Boston Medical Center and Boston Children's Hospital, general pediatrics research fellowship at Boston Medical Center, and master's program in health services research at the Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Schiff is a general academic pediatrician and health services researcher focused on understanding how substance use in pregnant and parenting women impacts the health of children and families. She is the Medical Director of the HOPE Clinic (Harnessing support for Opioid and substance use disorder in Pregnancy and Early childhood), a multidisciplinary program caring for women and families with substance use disorder from the time of conception through the first two years postpartum. Her research is focused on improving care for families affected by substance use. Her K12 focused on improving pharmacotherapy engagement and retention among pregnant and parenting women with Opioid Use Disorder (OUD).

Dr. Akosua Dankwah

Job Titles:
  • Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital 's Recovery Research Institute
Dr. Dankwah completed her Dr.PH. at the Harvard T. H. Chan School of Public Health. Her doctoral dissertation examined the perceptions of Black American Rhode Island church leaders toward intervention models and harm reduction methods in the face of the opioid misuse crises. Her doctoral project was supported by the Center of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE) on Opioids and Overdose, based at the Rhode Island Hospital, a fellowship award from the F.X.B. Center for Health and Human Rights at Harvard University, and a pre-doctoral fellowship from the Massachusetts General Hospital's Recovery Research Institute. She also holds an M.P.H. from the Brown University School of Public Health in Rhode Island and a B.A. from Knox College in Illinois.

Dr. Alex Russell

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Faculty at Harvard Medical School
  • Research Scientist, Recovery Research Institute
Dr. Alex Russell is a Member of the Faculty at Harvard Medical School and Researcher at the Recovery Research Institute within Massachusetts General Hospital. His research, funded by a K01 early career development award from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA), leverages data from popular social media platforms (e.g., Twitter, TikTok) to explore the nature and influence of social media on alcohol use disorder (AUD) and AUD help-seeking behaviors with the goal of informing public health interventions intended to mobilize AUD treatment and recovery service engagement among young adults.

Dr. Aurora Quaye

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Investigator at the Center of Addiction Medicine
  • Co - Investigator, Study Physician
Dr. Aurora Quaye is a clinical investigator at the Center of Addiction Medicine and an Instructor in Anesthesia at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Quaye received her BA in Neuroscience and Behavior from Wesleyan University and her MD from Harvard Medical School. Dr. Quaye completed her residency in Anesthesia, Critical Care and Pain Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and her fellowship in Regional Anesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital. She serves as a member of the Acute Pain Service and the Opioid Task Force at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Quaye is currently conducting research on identifying perioperative opioid reduction strategies for patients at risk of, or suffering from, opioid use disorders.

Dr. Benjamin Thompson

Job Titles:
  • Research Fellow at the Recovery Research Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital
Dr. Benjamin Thompson is a Research Fellow at the Recovery Research Institute of Massachusetts General Hospital with a long-standing interest in understanding addiction through the lens of recovery as a strategy of informing effective treatment approaches. To that end, he has explored multiple dimensions of addiction and recovery through a variety of disciplines. Dr. Thompson holds a B.A. in psychology (University at Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL), graduate degrees in theology (Samford University, Birmingham, AL) and science and religion (Boston University, Boston, MA), and a Ph.D. in behavioral neuroscience (Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA). Presently, his research focuses on better understanding the neurobehavioral correlates of the emotional improvements that occur in and through the process of recovery from alcohol use disorder. He is ultimately interested in bridging the gap between neuroscience and narrative science to better understand the neurocognitive underpinnings of adaptive identity change in the context of recovery.

Dr. Brenden Tervo-Clemmens

Job Titles:
  • Clinical and Research Fellow
  • Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Dr. Brenden Tervo-Clemmens is a post-doctoral fellow at Massachusetts GeneralHospital/Harvard Medical School in the MGH/NIDA K12 Career Development Program in Substance Use and Addiction Medicine. Brenden received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 2021 from the University of Pittsburgh, with secondary training in…more Dr. Brenden Tervo-Clemmens is a post-doctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the MGH/NIDA K12 Career Development Program in Substance Use and Addiction Medicine. Brenden received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology in 2021 from the University of Pittsburgh, with secondary training in Cognitive Neuroscience from Carnegie Mellon University, and completed his pre-doctoral clinical internship at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School. His research focuses on the neurodevelopment of externalizing psychopathology (impulsivity, risk-taking) and substance use during adolescence. He is also engaged in methodological research that aims to evaluate and improve the utility of large-scale functional neuroimaging (fMRI) and smartphone assessment in these areas.

Dr. Corinne Cather

Dr. Corinne Cather earned her undergraduate degree in biopsychology at Hamilton College in Clinton, NY and her doctorate in clinical psychology from Rutgers University where she received specialized training in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and behavioral medicine. She completed an internship at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (formerly Rutgers) and joined the Schizophrenia Clinical and Research Program in 1999 as a fellow. She has extensive experience as a clinician-researcher with first episode/early psychosis as well as with chronic schizophrenia and she has developed an international reputation as one of the few practitioners in the US skilled in cognitive behavioral therapy in schizophrenia. She has participated in a number of trials that investigate the efficacy of combined behavioral and psychopharmacological treatments for nicotine dependence in smokers with severe mental illness and has manualized treatments for enhancing motivation to quit smoking, smoking cessation, and relapse prevention for this population of smokers.

Dr. David Eddie

Job Titles:
  • Research Scientist
  • Associate Director of Clinical Translational Recovery Science at Massachusetts General Hospital 's Recovery Research Institute
Dr. David Eddie is the Associate Director of Clinical Translational Recovery Science at Massachusetts General Hospital's Recovery Research Institute and Center for Addiction Medicine, a clinical psychologist in Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Psychiatry, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Psychology… more Dr. David Eddie is the Associate Director of Clinical Translational Recovery Science at Massachusetts General Hospital's Recovery Research Institute and Center for Addiction Medicine, a clinical psychologist in Massachusetts General Hospital's Department of Psychiatry, an assistant professor at Harvard Medical School, and a diplomate of the American Board of Addiction Psychology. Dr. Eddie holds a B.A. from Columbia University with honors in psychology, and a Ph.D. from Rutgers University, where he conducted research at the Center of Alcohol and Substance Use Studies. Dr. Eddie did his clinical residency at Massachusetts General Hospital before completing his post-doctoral training as a Harvard Medical School Livingston Fellow at the Recovery Research Institute. His research seeks to better understand the psychological and psychophysiological causes and conditions that lead to people becoming addicted to alcohol and other drugs, and how these factors can also maintain addiction. He uses this knowledge to develop and study novel, technology-based treatments for substance use disorder.

Dr. Eric Boorman

Job Titles:
  • Biostatistician at the Recovery Research Institute
  • Biostatistician, Recovery Research Institute
Dr. Eric Boorman is a biostatistician at the Recovery Research Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Boorman specializes in quantitative methodology and health psychology. Dr. Boorman has a master's degree in Experimental Psychology and a PhD in Psychometrics. Dr. Boorman recently completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Boston University. Prior to working at the Recovery Research institute, Dr. Boorman conducted research on medication adherence among persons with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease and mental health among persons with Sickle Cell Disease. Dr. Boorman has done extensive research on survey design and evaluation focusing specifically on religiosity, spirituality, and related constructs.

Dr. Jodi Gilman

Job Titles:
  • Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School
  • Director of Neuroscience and Principal Investigator, Center for Addiction Medicine Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
  • Neuroscientist, Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Jodi Gilman is an Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Neuroscience at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Addiction Medicine. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Brown University and completed her postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Department of Psychiatry…more Dr. Jodi Gilman is an Associate Professor in Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and the Director of Neuroscience at the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Addiction Medicine. She received her PhD in Neuroscience from Brown University and completed her postdoctoral fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital in the Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Gilman's research uses multi-modal neuroimaging, behavioral and cognitive testing to understand the effects of addiction on the brain. Specifically, she studies the effects of cannabis use on addiction and other health outcomes. She has had a NIDA K01 Career Development Award and currently has a NIDA K02 Mid-Career Development Award, in addition to several R01 grants to conduct this research. Dr. Gilman has received numerous awards, including the Fellows Award for Research Excellence from the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Gilman's work has been featured in media outlets throughout the world, including Reuters, NPR's Science Friday broadcast, and the BBC. More information on her work can be found at http://scholar.harvard.edu/jodigilman/news.

Dr. John F. Kelly

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine
John F. Kelly, Ph.D., ABPP Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine, Program Director of the Addiction Recovery Management Service, Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

Dr. Kevin Potter

Job Titles:
  • Research Fellow / Statistician
Dr. Kevin Potter graduated from Grinnell College with a B.A. in Psychology and received his Ph.D. in Quantitative Psychology from Ohio State University. He began working for the Center for Addiction Medicine in August of 2018 as a statistician. His research involves applying modern statistical and cognitive modeling approaches to diverse clinical data sets, and developing approachable statistical tools for applied practitioners.

Dr. Lauren Hoffman

Job Titles:
  • Research Scientist at the Recovery Research Institute
  • Research Scientist, Recovery Research Institute
Dr. Lauren Hoffman is a Research Scientist at the Recovery Research Institute within the Center for Addiction Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, and an Assistant Professor of Psychology within the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Her current research is funded by NIDA, and seeks to elucidate the biopsychosocial correlates of successful substance use disorder treatment and recovery, with an emphasis on opioid use disorder and translation to real-world populations. The ultimate goal of her research is to leverage identified biological and psychosocial correlates to develop and test novel interventions that more effectively address barriers to successful treatment and sustained recovery. In addition to her research activities, Dr. Hoffman serves as Chair of the Nominations and Elections Committee for the American Psychological Association's Society of Addiction Psychology. Dr. Hoffman received her Bachelor of Arts from San Diego State University with honors in Psychology. She received her MS and PhD in Psychology with an emphasis in Behavioral and Cognitive Neuroscience from the University of Florida. She completed her post-doctoral training at the Recovery Research Institute, as a Research Fellow in Psychology within the Department of Psychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Richard Ribon Fletcher

Job Titles:
  • Member of the Research Faculty at the Recovery Research Institute
  • Research Science Affiliate, Recovery Research Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Richard Ribon Fletcher is a member of the research faculty at the Recovery Research Institute and Center for Addiction Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital and is also a research scientist at MIT. Dr. Fletcher develops new technologies for use in mental health research and behavior medicine. Dr. Fletcher was an early creator of mHealth systems for Just-in-Time Interventions (US Patent 8,655,441) and developed the MIT Media Lab's first generation of wireless sensor bands for ambulatory measurement of psychophysiology (now Empatica). Dr. Fletcher currently works on digital phenotyping methods for smart phones, chatbots, and machine learning algorithms to detect affect and predict behavior. Dr. Fletcher is also very active in global health supporting underserved communities. Dr. Fletcher has undergrad degrees in Physics and Electrical Engineering from MIT and earned his PhD in Information Technology at the MIT Media Lab. Dr. Fletcher has held previous academic appointments at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (Psychiatry) and Bedford VA hospital, and he is also a military veteran (US Air Force).

Dr. Samuel Acuff

Job Titles:
  • Research Fellow
  • Research Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital 's Recovery Research Institute
Dr. Samuel Acuff is a postdoctoral research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital's Recovery Research Institute and a Clinical Fellow at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Acuff completed his doctoral training in clinical psychology in the psychology department at the University of Memphis. Dr. Acuff completed his clinical psychology internship at the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University. His research is informed by behavioral economics and attempts to illuminate environmental and contextual influences on the development of and recovery from substance use disorders, with a particular focus on social factors. Dr. Acuff's dissertation was funded by a F31 through NIAAA and connected electrophysiological event-related potentials with behavioral economic constructs and explored the interaction between social and alcohol stimuli on neural correlates of reward. During his postdoctoral fellowship, Dr. Acuff intends to develop and to contribute to impactful recovery science through the lens of behavioral economic theory.

Elizabeth Oxendine

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Elizabeth Oxendine graduated from Tufts University in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology and Community Health. At CAM, she works with Dr. Schuster evaluating the effectiveness of using nonclinical peer support workers to deliver school-based substance use screenings and brief interventions. Her research interests include Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs), mood disorder prevention programs for young children, and community-based participatory research (CBPR). Fun fact, she was an intern at CAM before she became a clinical research coordinator!

Elizabeth R. Spallin

Job Titles:
  • Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute
Dr. Kelly is the Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School - the first endowed professor in addiction medicine at Harvard. He is also the Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM) at MGH…more Dr. Kelly is the Elizabeth R. Spallin Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine at Harvard Medical School - the first endowed professor in addiction medicine at Harvard. He is also the Founder and Director of the Recovery Research Institute at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and the Associate Director of the Center for Addiction Medicine (CAM) at MGH. Dr. Kelly is a former President of the American Psychological Association's (APA) Society of Addiction Psychology, a founding member and inaugural President of the American Board of Addiction Psychology, a Fellow of the APA, and a Diplomate of the American Board of Professional Psychology. He has served as a consultant to U.S. federal agencies and non-federal institutions, as well as foreign governments, the United Nations and the World Health Organization. Dr. Kelly has published over 200 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, chapters, and books in the field of addiction medicine, and was an author on the U.S. Surgeon General's Report on Alcohol, Drugs, and Health. He has won numerous state, national, and international lifetime achievements and distinguished scientist awards for his work. His clinical and research endeavors have focused on addiction treatment and the recovery process, mechanisms of behavior change, and reducing stigma and discrimination among individuals suffering from addiction.

Emily A. Hennessy

Job Titles:
  • Associate Director of Biostatistics at the Recovery Research Institute
  • Associate Director of Biostatistics, Recovery Research Institute
Emily A. Hennessy is Associate Director of Biostatistics at the Recovery Research Institute and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Hennessy was a Fulbright Scholar to Norway where she completed an M.Phil. in Health Promotion and focused on adolescent well-being. She completed her Ph.D. in Community Research and Action at Vanderbilt University and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut in the Systematic Health Action Research Program (SHARP) Lab. Dr. Hennessy's research examines factors associated with health behavior change among adolescents. Her primary area of research, adolescent substance use disorder prevention, treatment and recovery, is funded by a career development award (K01) from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. This study examines social network and recovery capital mechanisms of the recovery process in adolescents using social identity mapping. A secondary area of her research is in conducting evidence syntheses and in improving methods for evidence synthesis. She serves as Associate Methods Editor for the International Coordinating Group of the Campbell Collaboration and is on the editorial board of Psychological Bulletin.

Gladys Pachas

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
  • Physician
  • Program Director Center for Addiction Medicine, Assistant in Research Psychiatry, Instructor of Psychiatry Harvard Medical School
  • Program Director, Center for Addiction Medicine Assistant in Research Psychiatry and Instructor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
  • Program Director, Center for Addiction Medicine Instructor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Pachas is a physician-scientist with clinical research experience in addiction treatment settings, who completed a fellowship in Addiction clinical research at the Center for Addiction Medicine-MGH-Harvard Medical School and a fellowship on Hispanic drug abuse and addiction disparities in the Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute (IRTI) at the University of Houston. She has trained as a Freedom from Smoking facilitator at the American Lung Association and completed the Tobacco Treatment specialist CORE Training at UMASS medical school. Dr. Pachas is co-investigator/project director of several studies conducted at the Center for Addiction Medicine, including novel pharmacotherapeutic interventions for smoking cessation and relapse prevention in smokers with and without psychiatric comorbidity. She has been conducting successful, productive, and collaborative addiction research projects. Her expertise focuses on all aspects of clinical research, including protocol design, grant writing, data collection, management and quality assurance, regulatory (IRB, FDA and other institutions), cognitive behavioral therapy for treatment of nicotine dependence, clinical evaluation, and study-related clinical care in a multidisciplinary setting. She also has expertise in implementing the integrated health services model, including preventive integrated care, promotion of health, and community health work that involved coordination and education of community health workers and non-profit organizations on prevention, surveillance and referral systems, and community communication programs. In addition, she is committed to promoting diversity in clinical research and to the understanding of racial and ethnic disparities in community health. During the COVID-19 pandemic, she was a first responder as part of the MGH Gonzales Spanish Language Care Group assisting teams caring for COVID limited English proficiency Spanish-speaking patients on surge floors, the intensive care units, and the Emergency Department, and now is an MGH Community Messenger and Trusted Messenger working in vulnerable communities, supporting the COVID testing and vaccination efforts. Dr. Pachas received her medical degree from San Martin de Porres University and received health services management and public health training from the National University Mayor de San Marcos in Lima, Peru. She also completed an Addiction Fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Her research interests are the development of behavioral treatments and evidence-based novel treatments for smoking cessation and relapse prevention in people with and without serious mental illness. Dr. Pachas is the recipient of the NIMH-NCDEU Young Investigator Award, the MGH Clinical Research Day Departmental Award in Psychiatry, the NIH-NIDA Interdisciplinary Research Training Institute on Hispanic Drug Abuse Fellowship, the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology Fellowship, and the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco Health Disparities Fellowship. Dr. Pachas is involved in the clinical component of complex Phase II trials of novel pharmacologic agents, all of which are being tested as treatments for smoking cessation and relapse prevention.

Gustavo Angarita

Job Titles:
  • Research

Hannah Drew

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Hannah Drew graduated from Harvard University with a B.A. in History & Literature, and a minor in Global Health and Health Policy. At CAM, Hannah works with Dr. Schuster on two projects: one project focuses on the development of a drug education curriculum for middle and high school students, and the second project evaluates the effectiveness of school-based interventions in addressing youth substance use. Her research interests include substance use disorders, young adult mental health, global and rural health delivery, and health equity. She hopes to attend medical school in the future!

Jasmeen Kaur

Job Titles:
  • Programmer
Jasmeen Kaur received a Master of Public Health from Boston University and her Bachelor of Dental Surgery degree from Baba Farid University of Health Sciences. At CAM, she works primarily with Dr. Gilman on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development Study, looking at the substance use patterns in coordination with Dr. Tervo-Clemmens and Dr. Potter. Her research interests include opioid addiction, substance dependence, equitable and affordable access to health resources as well as effects of social determinants on mental health.

Jason Dufour

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Jason graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology from Fordham University in 2020. Jason's past work has examined qualitative elements of developmental milestones, such as individuals entering the college environment and the associated risks/benefits involved in that phase of life. At CAM, Jason works primarily with Dr. Evins and Dr. Schuster on a study that investigates vaping cessation in adolescents and young adults who have a willingness to quit vaping. Jason's research interests broadly include targeting at-risk youth and subsequent implementation of early intervention modules for substance use and comorbid psychopathology.

Jason Zhao

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Jason Zhao graduated from Boston College in 2022 with a B.S. in Psychology. At CAM, he works with Dr. Schuster and Dr. Evins in a study that examines the efficacy of varenicline and behavioral support for vaping cessation in adolescents. He is also currently working on a study with Dr. Husain and Dr. Evins that investigates the effects of cannabidiol on social anxiety disorder. His research interests include health equity, mental health interventions, and developmental psychopathology.

Jeffrey Samet

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Advisory Committee
  • Vice Chairman of the K12 Advisory Committee
Dr. Samet's research is informed by clinical involvement as a primary care physician for more than 30 years and training as an addiction medicine subspecialist. As a general internist and addiction medicine physician, he has conducted clinical research both locally and internationally on linking patients who use drugs to appropriate medical care, and has expertise in treating substance use disorders in general healthcare settings. He has also researched the impact of substance use on HIV infection. Dr. Samet has a record of collaboration with investigators within and beyond his institution resulting in over 300 peer-reviewed manuscripts. He has mentored medical students, residents, fellows, and junior faculty in patient-oriented research including NIH K awardees (for 10 as primary and 4 as secondary mentor) and 5 NIDA international INVEST Fellows.

Jill Goldstein

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Advisory Committee
For 30 years, Dr. Goldstein has been investigating sex differences in the brain and disorders of the brain (e.g., schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk) and their comorbidities with general medical disorders, such as cardiovascular disease (CVD). She is an expert in structural and functional brain imaging and detailed clinical and cognitive phenotyping that we associate with steroid hormones (HPA and HPG) and other physiology (e.g. ANS, immune response), and genetics/genomics. Her program of research, called the Clinical Neuroscience Laboratory of Sex Differences in the Brain, consists of an interdisciplinary team of investigators, integrating structural and functional brain imaging, psychophysiology, neuroendocrinology, genetics, immune function, and collaborations with animal studies of genes, hormones and the brain. Her lab has contributed to identifying early antecedents (implicating stress and immune pathways) that disrupt the healthy sexual differentiation of the brain that are retained and expressed in adulthood as sex differences in deficits in stress and memory circuitries, depression and comorbid cardiac and other physiologic dysfunction, and risk for memory decline and AD. She has been the P.I. of multiple large-scale studies integrating fields, methodologies, and science for 30 years. In 2018, she launched ICON (http://icon.mgh.harvard.edu), a collaboration between MGH and Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, whose initial mission is to enhance discoveries of sex differences in the comorbidity of depression, cardiometabolic disorders, and Alzheimer's disease and translate them into sex-dependent therapeutics. Her advisory role is to evaluate progress and provide advice on strategic new directions.

Joanna Streck

Job Titles:
  • Principal Investigator
Joanna Streck completed her doctoral training in addiction and tobacco regulatory science at the University of Vermont Vermont Center on Behavior and Health and went on to complete her predoctoral internship in Behavioral Medicine and K12 fellowship in addiction at MGH/HMS. Her primary program of research seeks to identify effective tobacco cessation and harm reduction interventions for vulnerable populations who smoke with a focus on those with co-morbid SUD.

Joshua Metlay

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
  • Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Metlay's research program is in the fields of clinical epidemiology and health services research, specifically focused on generating and implementing evidence to optimize the management of patients with community- acquired pneumonia and other respiratory tract infections. He has led numerous multi-institutional clinical studies, including cluster randomized trials, and has specific expertise in developing methods for primary and secondary data collection, outcome measurement, and analysis. At Penn, he was the Director of the Center for Healthcare Improvement and Patient Safety, a new research center within the School of Medicine that is focused on development, implementation and evaluation of interventions to improve the quality of healthcare and reduce medical errors. He also oversaw several training programs, including serving as the PI of two federally funded institutional Career Development (K) programs in comparative effectiveness research. He served as the Co-Director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Clinical Scholars Program at the University of Pennsylvania, a nationally recognized program that trains future leaders in health policy and community- based research. In 2013, he moved to Harvard University to be the Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, charged with strengthening and building clinical, research and training programs in general medicine, particularly in terms of coordinating the clinical activities within primary care and hospital medicine with the clinical research infrastructure. From 2016-2018, he served as the interim director of the Mongan Institute, a new MGH initiative to support interdisciplinary clinical and health services research across the MGH and Harvard campuses. He currently co-directs a course at the Harvard School of Public Health on implementation research, including the design and analysis of pragmatic trials.

Julia Jashinski

Job Titles:
  • Associate
  • Program Manager
Julia Jashinski graduated from Ohio State University in 2019 with a Bachelor's of Science in Public Health and received her M.S.W. from Boston University in 2021. At CAM, she works together with principal investigators to support ongoing projects and manage grants, and is the project coordinator for Dr. Gilman and Dr. Evins' multi-site study looking at the effects of cannabis and a group behavioral intervention on pain and opioid utilization. Her professional interests include harm reduction, substance use policy, and health equity.

Kelly Casottana

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Kelly Casottana graduated from Boston University with a Bachelor of Science in behavior and health and a minor in biology. Her previous research experience in opioid and substance use disorders in pregnancy and early childhood has brought her to CAM. At the Center, she works with Dr. Schuster and Dr. Evins on a study which investigates the efficacy of varenicline and behavioral support on vaping cessation in adolescents and young adults. Her research interests include child and adolescent development, preventative medicine and intervention methods, and reducing the stigma around substance use disorders in healthcare settings. Kelly plans to continue her career by attending medical school.

Kendall Roberts

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Kendall Roberts graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelor of Science in Clinical Psychology and Child Study and Human Development. At CAM, she works with Dr. Schuster on the effectiveness of a new drug education curriculum as an alternative intervention for adolescents with substance use infractions. Her research interests include the development and implementation of community-based mental health interventions and the treatment of comorbid psychopathology. Kendall hopes to attend graduate school to pursue a degree in clinical psychology.

Lauren Greenspan

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Lauren Greenspan graduated from the University of Michigan with a Bachelor of Science in Public Health Sciences, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, and a minor in the History of Medicine and Health. At CAM, she works with Dr. Schuster on a project evaluating the effectiveness of school-based interventions in improving the screening and treatment of youth substance use. Her research interests include adolescent mental health, depression and anxiety prevention, health equity, and improving access to care through community-based interventions.

Liam Arteaga

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Liam Arteaga graduated from the University College Dublin with a Masters in Psychological Sciences in 2021, as well as having received a B.S in Neuroscience and B.A in Psychology from Emmanuel College in 2020. At CAM, he works with Dr. Randi Schuster on a study examining the efficacy of a drug education and diversion program for adolescent students. Liam's interests include research furthering our understanding of substance use disorders through a biological perspective, as well as research that aims to evaluate, improve, and expand overall treatment options for substance use disorders.

Margarita Alegria

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
  • Chief of the Disparities Research Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Alegria is dedicated to understanding and improving health services, and eliminating health and health care disparities for diverse racial and ethnic and/or immigrant populations through state of the art research methods and innovative statistical approaches. She leads a dynamic team of clinicians, policy analysts, health economists, and statisticians who address questions regarding health service delivery, health policy, and public health for multicultural populations using epidemiology, systems and organizational theory, economics and financing, and qualitative and quantitative methods. She is a member of the National Academies (formerly the Institute on Medicine) and leads major projects, including a National Institute on Aging (NIA)-funded intervention aiming to prevent physical and mental disability among racial/ethnic minority elders, a William T. Grant Foundation (WTGF)-funded project that seeks to understand the experience of majority and minority status through Photovoice, and a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH)-funded project examining the effects of neighborhood context, culture, and minority status on depression and anxiety.

Matteo Torquati

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator II
Matteo Torquati graduated from Boston College in 2023 with a Bachelor of Science in biology and a minor in public health. At CAM, he works with Dr. Schuster on two studies, one that examines the effect of acute cannabis abstinence on suicidal ideation and depressive symptoms in adolescents and another that explores school-based interventions for alcohol use, which seeks to learn about ways to best support youth and to improve access to substance use prevention in schools. His research interests include child and adolescent development, preventative healthcare, health equity, and substance use and abuse. Matteo plans to continue his career by attending medical school

Maurizio Fava

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
Dr. Fava is an innovative clinical and translational researcher and a beloved mentor with a strong record of fostering career development and training at the individual and now the institutional level at MGH and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Fava serves as co-PI, with Dr. Greenfield, of the MGH-McLean R25 Training Program, ‘Fostering Research Mentorship and Training During Psychiatry,' a critically important mechanism by which promising psychiatry residents conduct mentored research during their residency. Since 2016, he has also served as co-PI of a PCORI grant "Switching vs Augmentation in Treatment-Resistant Depression" (19 sites Budget: $14,021,920; DCC-University of Texas Southwestern). With an h index > 140 and over 85,000 citations, Dr. Fava is extremely productive; he has trained and mentored over 50 clinical and translational research scientists and has been the mentor/sponsor of over 30 successful NARSAD, APA, and K Award fellowship applications. His trainees have gone on to have productive independent academic research careers.

Meghan Costello

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital / Harvard Medical School
Meghan Costello is a pre-doctoral clinical fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School in the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy Track. She is a PhD candidate in Clinical Psychology with a minor in Quantitative Psychology at the University of Virginia, where she also received her undergraduate and master's degrees. Her research focuses on characterizing and leveraging positive peer relational processes to promote adolescent well-being. She is also interested in near-peer and paraprofessional intervention and prevention efforts as a promising avenue for improving access to supportive care for young people.

Nkechi Conteh

Job Titles:
  • Associate
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
  • Program Director
  • Staff Psychiatrist
Nkechi Conteh is a graduate of the Duke Psychiatry Residency Program and has a masters' degree from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. Her principal interests include women's mental health, health disparities and global psychiatry. Her interests include perinatal psychiatry, addiction, medical education, health disparities, global and community psychiatry. In addition to providing care as a member of the MGH Center for Women's Mental Health, her other responsibilities include directing a collaborative care psychiatry clinic for pregnant/postpartum women at MGH Revere Health Center and provision of care to women with substance use disorders in the MGH HOPE clinic. She is also a member of the MGH Chester Pierce Division of Global Mental Health and in this role, she assists with residency training activities in West Africa. She has been involved in various clinical and educational projects including the development of a mentorship workshop for underrepresented medicine residents and faculty, streamlining access to addiction treatment for women of color, the development of a psychiatry residency program in Sierra Leone and the creation of a health disparities track for the MGH/McLean Physician Scientist Program. During residency, she was a recipient of the 2018 Association of Women Psychiatrists' (AWP) International Fellowship and the Duke Department of Psychiatry 2019 Carter Community Service Award. She was also a member of the Psychiatry Curriculum Review Committee and the Perinatal Psychiatry Group and created a streamlined perinatal psychiatry referral process for providers to facilitate timely provision of care during the peripartum period that includes addressing healthcare disparities faced by minority women. As part of the AWP International Fellowship, she worked with obstetric providers to introduce depression screening in prenatal clinics for persons living with HIV in a tertiary health institution in Nigeria. Prior to residency, she founded a local health organization for women which focused on providing health education in resource-limited settings.

Paola Pedrelli

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Psychologist
  • Director of Dual Diagnoses Studies at the Depression Clinical Research Program, Principal Investigator, Assistant Professor in Psychology, Harvard Medical School
Dr. Pedrelli is a clinical psychologist with expertise in comorbid disorders. She received her Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the Joint Doctoral Program at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University and completed her post-doctoral work at MGH. Her program of research focuses on explicating the etiology of co-occurring Mood Disorders and…more Dr. Pedrelli is a clinical psychologist with expertise in comorbid disorders. She received her Ph.D in Clinical Psychology from the Joint Doctoral Program at the University of California San Diego and San Diego State University and completed her post-doctoral work at MGH. Her program of research focuses on explicating the etiology of co-occurring Mood Disorders and Alcohol Use Disorders and on developing psychosocial treatments for these conditions. She has been awarded funding from Harvard Medical School, the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and the ABMRF/The Foundation for Alcohol Research. Her current work includes a study examining the effectiveness of a novel psychosocial intervention for heavy drinking and depressive symptoms in college students, and a multi-method study investigating positive and negative reinforcement processes at the bases of binge drinking. She has published and presented extensively on the co-occurrence of depressive symptoms and substance use among college students. She is an expert in the delivery of CBT and developed several CBT-based treatment manuals for patients with co-occurring disorders.

Randi Schuster

Job Titles:
  • Co - Director of Research
  • Director of Neuropsychology, Principal Investigator
  • Licensed Clinical Psychologist
Dr. Schuster is a licensed clinical psychologist. She received her BA from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2007 and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2014. She received specialized training in neuropsychology as a pre-doctoral intern and post-doctoral fellow at MGH/Harvard Medical School…more Co-Director of Research; Director of School-Based Research and Program Development; Director of Neuropsychology; Principal Investigator, Center for Addiction Medicine; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School Dr. Schuster is a licensed clinical psychologist. She received her BA from the University of Maryland, College Park in 2007 and her PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Illinois at Chicago in 2014. She received specialized training in neuropsychology as a pre-doctoral intern and post-doctoral fellow at MGH/Harvard Medical School. Dr. Schuster's work aims to define the cognitive predecessors of adolescent substance use, effects of substance use on cognitive performance, and how these and other factors (e.g., genetics and environment) affect treatment engagement and functional (e.g., academic) outcomes. Her work explores the behavioral and biological mechanisms underlying risk for adverse outcomes secondary to early substance exposure, with a particular emphasis on vulnerable sub-populations including adolescents with and at risk for neuropsychiatric illness. Dr. Schuster's work is notably rooted in principles of community engagement and equity. Her training in community-based research is reflected in extensive ties with public schools across Massachusetts. She has surveyed over 100,000 students in school-based settings about their substance use behaviors and co-occurring mental health symptoms. Through her program of school-based research, she has also developed and tested best practice community-level early interventions ("Tier 2") to minimize population-level impact of substance use on student health and well-being. Dr. Schuster is currently overseeing a state-funded program aimed at developing, implementing, and evaluating a novel alternative to suspension (iDECIDE; https://www.idecidemyfuture.org) as well as a PCORI-funded clinical trial aimed at evaluating methods for improving school-based SBIRT for early substance use detection.

Sara Bates

Job Titles:
  • Instructor in Pediatrics
  • Founding Director of the Infant Brain Center
Dr. Bates graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry and completed her pediatric residency at Massachusetts General Hospital. After completing the Harvard Neonatal-Perinatal Medicine Program in 2012, she joined the MGH Division of Newborn Medicine and Neonatology. Dr. Bates's studies focus on neonatal environmental, genetic, and metabolic influences on normal and pathological brain development. She and her team are applying advanced neuroimaging acquisition and analysis methodologies to improve our understanding of infant brain structure and function in a broad range of clinical contexts. Dr. Bates has served as the site PI on neonatal interventional clinical trials and has lectured both locally and regionally on the topics of neuroimaging, fetal drug exposures, management of perinatal brain insults, and emerging cell-based therapies. Her current work is focused on detecting brain insults resulting from Hypoxic Ischemic Encephalopathy as well as exploring brain development in infants with in-utero drug exposures. Her K12 project focused on infants born to mothers with Opiate Use Disorders and the potential value of early neuroimaging biomarkers for improving treatment and outcome in opioid-exposed neonates.

Scott Lukas

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
  • Director, McLean Imaging Center Professor of Psychiatry ( Pharmacology ), Harvard Medical School
Since 1982, Dr. Lukas has been conducting both laboratory studies and randomized clinical trials of drug and alcohol abuse, sleep disorders and psychiatric disorders using a variety of imaging modalities (EEG/ERP, Sleep, MRI, fMRI, MRS, PET). These techniques are used to quantify the changes in brain function that parallel altered states of consciousness, sleep, performance, mood states, and reinforcement after psychoactive drug administration or presentation of drug-related cues in adults and adolescents. He has been the Training Director for a NIDA T32 Postdoctoral Training Program since its inception 19 years ago. During his 36 years at McLean Hospital, he has mentored 37 postdoctoral fellows and 25 K awardees. His major area of research has been to study the reinforcing effects of various drugs of abuse including marijuana, alcohol, opiates, cocaine, sedative/hypnotics and nicotine as well as their interactions and developing medications to treat drug and alcohol abuse/dependence.

Shelly Greenfield

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Advisory Committee
  • Psychiatrist
Dr. Greenfield is an addiction psychiatrist and clinician-scientist, with extensive experience in research and career mentoring. The focus of her research is in the development of new treatments for patients with substance use disorders (SUDs), and in innovating the integration of delivery of mental health and substance use disorder treatment services into diverse settings (including international and resource-limited environments). Dr. Greenfield used her research findings to inform her clinical teaching and national policy work regarding effective treatments and public health interventions for individuals with SUDs. She has extensive mixed methods research experience in treatment development for SUDs and gender differences in SUDs, as well as evaluation and implementation of alcohol screening and treatment services in diverse settings. In a NIDA-funded Stage I trial, she developed a new manualized group therapy for women with SUDs and other co-occurring psychiatric disorders, called the Women's Recovery Group (WRG), which was then tested in a NIDA-funded Stage II two-site randomized controlled trial versus a standard mixed-gender group drug counseling. The treatment manual for the WRG was published in May 2016 and is available for dissemination as a gender-responsive, evidence-based treatment for women with SUDs. As chair of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network (CTN) Gender Special Interest Group, she led an interdisciplinary team of researchers focused on studying gender differences in SUD treatment response in the CTN studies. She has been the recipient of a NIDA K24 mentoring award (2005-2016) in patient-oriented research and has mentored many junior investigators, including serving as co-mentor or advisor on numerous NIH K-awards. She is the Co-PI of an NIMH-funded R25 focused on providing research training to adult psychiatry residents who are committed to academic careers as clinician-scientists in psychiatry. As Chief Academic Officer (CAO) of McLean, she runs institution-wide mentoring, faculty development, and responsible conduct of research seminar programs. As a clinically focused addiction researcher with expertise in developing and implementing services for SUDs, Dr. Greenfield will contribute her clinical and health services research expertise, as well as her experience as a research mentor.

Sherri-Ann Burnett-Bowie

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Executive Committee
Dr. Burnett-Bowie's overarching career mission is to embed diversity and inclusion into the fabric of Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS). Her investigation and teaching has focused on advancing phosphate and vitamin D physiology and addressing the impact of bias in healthcare, while her clinical work has focused on optimally treating patients with bone metabolism disorders. Providing mentorship is one of Dr. Burnett-Bowie's core pursuits and perspectives gained from clinical and investigative pursuits have been critical. Through her administrative roles as Director, Multicultural Affairs, Department of Medicine (DOM), MGH; Associate Director, MGH Center for Diversity and Inclusion (CDI); and Faculty Assistant Dean for Student Affairs in the Office of Recruitment and Multicultural Affairs (ORMA) at HMS, she has contributed to and led committees and initiatives focused on attracting and supporting trainees and faculty who are underrepresented based on race/ethnicity, sex, sexual identity, disability, or income. The Department of Medicine (DOM), as part of an MGH-wide effort, has in the past year greatly expanded its already robust efforts to increase the gender and racial/ethnic diversity of its training programs and faculty. In her roles as the Director of Multicultural Affairs for the DOM and Chair of the MGH DOM Diversity and Inclusion Board, Dr. Burnett-Bowie will be well positioned to inform the large number of trainees in internal medicine of the NIDA Mentored Clinical Scientist Development Program Award in Substance Use and Substance Use Disorder Research (K12) opportunity.

URBAN ARCH

Job Titles:
  • Member of the K12 Advisory Committee
  • Administrative Coordinating Core ( Admin Core )
The central goal of the URBAN ARCH Consortium is to examine the consequences of alcohol on HIV disease and to mitigate its harmful effects.

Vanessa Iroegbulem

Job Titles:
  • Clinical Research Coordinator III
Vanessa Iroegbulem graduated from Augustana College with a Bachelor of Arts in neuroscience and women, gender, and sexuality studies with a minor in philosophy. At CAM, she works primarily with Dr. Evins and Dr. Schuster on two studies, one that investigates the efficacy of a pharmacological and behavioral intervention for vaping cessation in adolescent and young adults who have a willingness to quit vaping, and another that focuses on the development and evaluation of a new drug education curriculum, which seeks to create a more equitable response to school-based substance use infractions. Her research interests include harm reduction, health equity, and accessibility and effectiveness of early interventions and treatments for substance use in marginalized and underserved populations.