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SENIOR TRI INVESTIGATORS AND ADMINISTRATORS

Center on the Continuum of Care: Monitoring and Adapting Addictions Treatment

John Cacciola, Ph.D., Director Dr. Cacciola is an expert in the assessment of substance abuse behaviors and co-occurring problems. He has published extensively on instrument development and improvement in the addictions field, including work to improve the summary indices of the Addiction Severity Index, field tests of new instruments and procedure modifications, and work on the newest versions of the ASI and TSR. Dr. Cacciola’s work on instrument development has recently been extended to the design and pilot testing of new protocols that monitor patient progress while in treatment.

James McKay, Ph.D. Dr. McKay is a Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Scientific Director of the Penn Center for Studies of Addiction. Dr. McKay received a Ph.D. from Harvard University, and completed a clinical psychology internship at McLean Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship in treatment outcome research at Brown University. He is the recipient of an Independent Scientist (K02) Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, as well as a number of research grants from NIDA and the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism. Dr. McKay is the author or coauthor of over 100 peer reviewed journal articles and 21 book chapters. His work has included evaluations of continuing care treatments for alcohol and cocaine use disorders, comparisons of outcomes following inpatient and outpatient treatments, evaluations of ASAM and other patient placement criteria, studies of the efficacy and cost-effectiveness of enhanced treatments for substance abuse, and the identification of factors over time that predict relapse following substance abuse treatment. Dr. McKay has also conducted studies on several methodological issues, including whether randomized and nonrandomized treatment comparisons yield similar results. His empirical and review papers on continuing care and factors in relapse are widely cited and have been influential in the field. He is a member of NIDA’s Health Services Grant Review Committee, a member of the Scientific Panel of Advisors, Butler Center for Research, Hazelden Foundation, and a Consultant to the Caron Foundation. Dr. McKay’s current research efforts are focused on the development and evaluation of flexible approaches to the management of addiction as a chronic disorder, including the use of the telephone to provide extended continuing care.

Parents Translational Research Center

Dr. Kirby*Kimberly C. Kirby, Ph.D., Director, is a psychologist with specialization in behavior analysis and behavioral pharmacology. She received her doctorate from the University of Kansas and completed postdoctoral training at Duke University and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. She is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and on the Executive Committee for the division on Psychopharmacology and Substance Abuse. She is also a full member of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence and the Association for Behavior Analysis. She has focused her research on behavioral treatments that improve motivation for recovery and addressed issues related to drug abuse and the family, and the involvement of religious communities in addiction recovery. She has more than 70 publications in professional books, meeting proceedings, and journals.

Winters*Ken Winters, Ph.D. is the director of the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research, a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota, and a Senior Scientist with the Treatment Research Institute, Philadelphia, PA. He received his B.A. from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in psychology (Clinical) from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His primary research interests are the assessment and treatment of adolescent drug abuse. Dr. Winters has published numerous research articles in this area, and has received several research grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and various foundations. He currently directs grants funded by NIH to study the effectiveness of brief interventions with drug abusing adolescents. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse and the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, and he was also the lead editor for two Treatment Improvement Protocol Series published by the Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (SAMHSA) that focused on adolescent drug abuse assessment and treatment. Dr. Winters is a consultant to many organizations, including the Hazelden Foundation, National Institute on Drug Abuse, Center for Substance Abuse Treatment, the Partnership for Drug-Free America, World Health Organization, and the Mentor Foundation (an international drug abuse prevention organization).

Arria*Amelia M. Arria, Ph.D., Senior Scientist, is an adolescent and young-adult specialist at TRI and Principal Investigator on the College Life Study at the School of Public Health, University of Maryland, College Park. Her primary area of interest is the identification of risk factors for adolescent and young adult drug involvement. She is also involved in research evaluating the safety and efficacy of buprenorphine and methadone for pregnant opioid-dependent women, prenatal methamphetamine exposure, and characterizing faith-based elements of drug treatment.

Cacciola*John Cacciola, Ph.D. Dr. Cacciola is an expert in the assessment of substance abuse behaviors and co-occurring problems. He has published extensively on instrument development and improvement in the addictions field, including work to improve the summary indices of the Addiction Severity Index, field tests of new instruments and procedure modifications, and work on the newest versions of the ASI and TSR. Dr. Cacciola’s work on instrument development has recently been extended to the design and pilot testing of new protocols that monitor patient progress while in treatment.

KaynakÖvgü Kaynak, Ph.D. is an Associate Research Scientist at TRI and Data Analyst and Scientific Writer for the Center. Dr. Kaynak has extensive research experience related to psychosocial risk factors associated with negative outcomes (i.e. drug use and aggression) in children and adolescents. She is particularly interested in the combined effects of social and individual risk factors on drug use. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology from Pennsylvania State University, a Master of Science of Education in Interdisciplinary Studies in Human Development from the University of Pennsylvania, and a Doctorate degree in Public Health with a concentration in Social and Behavioral Health from Temple University. For the Parents Center, Dr. Kaynak analyzes data and prepares manuscripts that focus on parenting and adolescent substance use problems. Findings from published manuscripts are then translated into tools that parents can use when addressing the substance use problems of their adolescents.

Kerwin*MaryLouise Kerwin, Ph.D. is a licensed psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst with specialized experience in parent training, child maltreatment, and pediatric psychology. She received her doctoral degree from the University of Notre Dame and completed her clinical training at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine/The Kennedy Krieger Institute. Her professional experience includes extensive training and experience in the design and delivery of behavioral treatments and interventions for pediatric problems. Kerwin is a recipient of a National Research Service Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse awarded to the Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine to fund training with Dr. Kimberly Kirby at the Treatment Research Institute. Through her three-year collaboration with TRI, Dr. Kerwin has developed expertise in the design and delivery of community reinforcement interventions for women with drug addiction and family members of individuals with drug and alcohol problems. In addition, she has been investigating the use of contingency management interventions delivered individually and in a group format.

MeyersKathleen Meyers, Ph.D. has more than 25 years of clinical research experience.  She is a recognized leader in the assessment and treatment of adolescent substance use disorders (SUD), delinquency and co-morbidity and is the author of the Comprehensive Adolescent Severity Inventory (CASI), a multidimensional assessment instrument for youth with co-morbidity that is widely used throughout the United States, Canada and abroad.  The CASI was chosen to be lead instrument in the Common Assessment Battery for all adolescent-funded studies of the National Institute of Drug Abuse’s Clinical Trials Network and the National Criminal Justice Drug Abuse Treatment Research Studies (CJ-DATS) Network.  She has served on numerous expert panels sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the National Institute of Drug Abuse (NIDA), the National Institute of Justice (NIJ), and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention (OJJDP), as well as on peer review, institutional review and editorial review boards.  Dr. Meyers has published extensively, including as first author of an invited chapter for the Adolescent Mental Health Initiative’s Treating and Preventing Adolescent Mental Health Disorders:  What We Know and What We Don’t Know (named the best book in clinical medicine by the Association of American Publishers).  In 2004, Dr. Meyers received the Research Award of Excellence from the Caron Foundation. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology & Statistics from Rutgers University, a Master of Science in Evaluation and Applied Research from Hahnemann University and a Doctorate degree in Educational Psychology from Temple University.

Washio Yukiko Washio, Ph.D., BCBA-D is an Associate Research Scientist at TRI. Dr. Washio has been trained in behavioral science, especially in treating substance dependent populations using voucher-based incentives. She is primarily interested in substance-dependent pregnant women and the outcomes of treated mothers and offspring. She graduated from Keio University in Tokyo, Japan with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Experimental Psychology, Western Michigan University with a Master of Arts degree in Psychology, and University of Nevada, Reno with a Doctorate degree in Psychology.  She did her postdoctoral training at the University of Vermont. For the Parents Translational Research Center (Center), Dr. Washio oversees day-to-day conduct of the randomized controlled trial on parents whose children use alcohol and illicit substance and writes manuscripts on relevant topics. She seeks to develop a research program according to the Center mission, parenting and substance abuse, combined with her primary research interest.

 


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