TRI Treatment Research Institute: Science Over Addiction

SENIOR TRI INVESTIGATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS

Section on Law and Ethics

David S. Festinger, Ph.D. is the Director of TRI's Section on Law and Ethics Research and an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Dr. Festinger holds a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, Masters Degrees in both counseling and clinical health psychology, and is a licensed clinical psychologist. He
is a member of the Executive Committee of the American Psychological Association's Division of Psychopharmacology. Dr. Festinger's research has focused primarily on empirically isolating the active mechanisms of drug courts, developing empirically based
dispositional procedures for substance abusing offenders, and bringing experimental research methods to bear on major ethical questions facing research participants in substance abuse research. Dr. Festinger has served as Principal Investigator and Co-Principal Investigator on
numerous grants from the National Institute of Drug Abuse and has authored numerous articles and chapters, as well as a widely used introductory text on research methods.

Douglas B. Marlowe, J.D., Ph.D. is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and former Director of the Division of Law & Ethics Research at the Treatment Research Institute (TRI). A lawyer and clinical psychologist by background, Dr. Marlowe has received numerous state and federal research grants to study the role of coercion in drug abuse treatment, the effects of drug courts and other specialized programs for drug-abusing offenders, and behavioral treatments for drug abusers and criminal offenders. He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (APA) and has received proficiency certification in the treatment of psychoactive substance use disorders from the APA College of Professional Psychology. He has published over 100 professional articles and chapters on the topics of crime and drug abuse and is on the editorial boards of the journals, the Drug Court Review and Criminal Justice & Behavior. From 2004 through 2007, Dr. Marlowe was a member of NADCP’s Board of Directors on which he served as Chair of the Research Committee and the Drug Policy Reform Committee.

Steven Belenko, Ph.D. is a Senior TRI Scientist and adjunct Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. Prior to joining TRI, he was a CASA Fellow at the National Center on Addiction and Substance Abuse at Columbia University, a Senior Research Fellow at the New York City Criminal Justice Agency (where he also held positions of Research Director and Acting Executive Director), a senior research associate at the New York City Office of the Mayor and the Vera Institute of Justice, and a research psychologist at Mathematica Policy Research. Dr. Belenko has conducted extensive research on substance abuse and crime, the impact of drugs on the adult and juvenile justice systems, adolescent substance abuse, prescription drug abuse and diversion, HIV risk behaviors and related service needs for offenders, and the integration of treatment and other services in criminal justice settings, including drug courts, diversion programs, and prisons. He has published numerous articles and book chapters, and is the author of two books: Crack and the Evolution of Antidrug Policy (winner of the American Library Association’s Choice Magazine academic book of the year award), and Drugs and Drug Policy in America: A Documentary History. Dr. Belenko earned his B.S. in applied mathematics and Ph.D. in experimental psychology from Columbia University.

David DeMateo, J.D., Ph.D. is a Research Scientist in the Section on Law and Ethics Research at the Treatment Research Institute. He received his J.D. from Villanova University School of Law and his Ph.D, in clinical psychology from MCP Hahnemann University. Dr. DeMatteo is a licensed psychologist in Pennsylvania. He has held adjunct teaching appointments at several universities, including Rutgers, Widener, Drexel, and Villanova, and he is currently a Lecturer in Law at Villanova Law School. Dr. DeMatteo’s research involves the experimental evaluation of judicially based treatment programs for drug-involved offenders. His most recent research has focused on the development of appropriate judicial interventions for low-risk (preclinical) drug court clients. Specifically, Dr. DeMatteo is seeking to develop an appropriate intervention for the sizeable portion of drug court clients who do not have a diagnosable or clinically significant substance use disorder.

Nicholas Patapis, Psy.D., M.A.C.J., M.A. completed a dual-degree program in clinical psychology and criminal justice, followed by a two-year NIDA-funded post-doctoral fellowship in Substance Abuse and Addictions at the University of Pennsylvania. He has a supervisory role in most Law & Ethics Research projects including Narcotics on the Internet, where he applies his knowledge of the pharmacological and behavioral aspects of drugs-of-abuse, and Improving the Ethics of Informed Consent, where he oversees collection of neuropsychological data. His other projects include in-prison research to develop client and counselor manuals for use with an existing multimedia-based drug abuse intervention and he is an Investigator in NIDA’s Clinical Trials Network. Dr. Patapis is a licensed psychologist and his main areas of interest are adolescent psychopathology and anti-social behavior.

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