TRI Treatment Research Institute: Science Over Addiction

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.

A. Thomas McLellan, Ph.D. Best known for his pioneering introduction of the Addiction Severity Index and Treatment Services Review in the 1980s, McLellan later conceptualized data-driven measurement of treatment effectiveness, performance-based monitoring, and analysis of the nation’s substance abuse treatment system as an “industry” beset with the same organizational, staffing and funding problems overcome in other problem-plagued industries. Through his research and extensive knowledge of substance abuse treatment systems, McLellan has become a persuasive proponent of the view that addiction is a chronically relapsing condition, one that must be continually monitored and managed. McLellan has published more than 400 articles and chapters on addiction research and serves as Editor in Chief of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment. He serves on the editorial boards and as a reviewer of numerous medical and scientific journals, and is advisor to numerous government and nonprofit scientific organizations, including the Office of National Drug Control Policy, Research and Evaluation; the National Practice Laboratory of the American Psychiatric Association, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the World Health Organization, and the Greek government.

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.

Deni Carise, Ph.D. Dr. Carise is an expert in the organization and delivery of treatment services in the nation’s substance abuse treatment system. Developer of the White House-funded DENS data collection, assessment and treatment support system, Dr. Carise designs data collection strategies and training programs supporting counselors to introduce and measure evidence-based practice in substance abuse treatment. Her computer-assisted patient assessment and referral system has been demonstrated to increase matching of patients to the auxiliary services they need for recovery.

Kevin Lynch, Ph.D. Dr. Lynch is a statistician with expertise in the analysis of longitudinal data, mediation analyses, methods to address missing data, and approaches to analyzing data from adaptive treatment protocols. He also holds a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania, where he is the primary statistician for the Center for Studies of Addiction. He is an active collaborator in the design of studies to evaluate the innovative interventions developed at the Center.

David Oslin, M.D. Dr. Oslin is a psychiatrist with expertise in the pharmacological treatment of alcoholism, pharmacogenetics, screening and brief interventions within primary care settings, adaptive treatment approaches, and geriatric psychiatry. In addition to his role in the C3, Dr. Oslin is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at Penn. He is currently conducting an NIAAA-funded study to determine optimal extended treatment protocols for patients who show a poor initial response to naltrexone, as well as for those who show a good initial response to that medication.