Center for Addiction Medicine

K12 Mentors

Click to view each mentor’s biography, contact information, and current research.

Eden Evins, MD, MPH

A. Eden Evins, M.D., M.P.H., Ceneter for Addiction Medicine Director, Principal Investigator, Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School
Founding Director, MGH Center for Addiction Medicine; Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine, Harvard Medical School

aeevins@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-4679

Dr. Evins is a clinically trained psychiatrist with consecutive funding since 1999 as PI on NIDA-funded projects to conduct 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 neural markers of reward and social influence, psychiatric symptoms, cognitive function, and addictive behaviors, and the impact of different maintenance treatments for opiate use disorder on relapse and cognitive functioning.

Dr. Evins is an international expert in co-occurring substance dependence and psychiatric illness, with landmark work in treatment of nicotine dependence among those with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. Dr. Evins brings invaluable expertise in conduct of clinical treatment trials in those with psychiatric (particularly schizophrenia and bipolar disorder) and substance use (particularly nicotine, cannabis and opiate use disorders) to the mentor team of the K12. She has conducted large, multi-center clinical studies in addition to and often integrated with laboratory-based and neuroimaging studies. She serves as the Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry in the Field of Addiction Medicine, as the Founding Director of the MGH Center for Addiction Medicine, as Director of the MGH Addiction Research Program, and as MGH site director for the Harvard Addiction Fellowship Program that provides clinical specialty training to three addiction psychiatrists per year. In the course of this work, she has gained considerable administrative expertise in the critical issues of standardized assessment, project feasibility, regulatory aspects of clinical research, ethical conduct of clinical research, human subjects protection, and practical issues of staffing, recruitment, budgeting, and communication. She has a track record of completing studies and producing several peer-reviewed publications from each project. She has successfully mentored many junior investigators in patient-oriented addiction research who are now clinical and research leaders. Her goal is to assist junior investigators with a range of backgrounds and interests, including 1) investigators with a primary focus on patient-oriented addiction research, 2) investigators from other specialties (e.g., medicine, pharmacology, neuroscience, neuropsychology) who seek to integrate addiction research into their specific fields, and 3) investigators working in related fields who can benefit from her knowledge and experience.

Her primary goal in mentoring residents, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty is to foster their independent research. She has worked closely with Dr. Rigotti since 2001, and they have co-mentored trainees. She devotes significant professional time to the mentorship of the next generation of patient-oriented addiction researchers.

Current Grants

Career Development Program in Substance Use and Addiction Medicine
NIDA 1K12DA043490 2017-22
The goal of this Mentored Award is to develop a multidisciplinary program at MGH that will support intensive, mentored training and career development of promising post-doctoral clinician-scientists who aim to establish independent research programs in patient-oriented addiction research.

Dissemination of effective smoking cessation treatment to smokers with serious mental illness
PCORI PCS-1504-30472 2016-21
This is a large pragmatic trial with a cluster randomized design to determine whether academic detailing to primary care providers and health outreach worker support to patients and providers will improve smoking cessation rates in people with serious mental illness (SMI).

Mentoring in Addiction Treatment Research
NIDA 2K24DA030443 2011-21
This K award will support mentoring activities in addiction treatment research with salary support for Dr. Evins and statistical support staff.

Advancing a novel portable detection method for cannabis intoxication
NIDA R42 DA 043977 2017-20
Fast Track Small Business Technology Transfer Award.

Comprehensive CVD risk reduction trial in persons with serious mental illness
NHLBI 4R01HL112299 2013-18
This trial will test the hypothesis that an 18-month cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk reduction program consisting of a heart health coach to provide individual CVD risk reduction behavioral counseling, coordination with primary care providers to manage risk factors (e.g., hypertension), and collaboration with mental health staff and social supports will improve cardiovascular health in persons with SMI.

Trial of integrated smoking cessation, exercise and weight management in SMI
NIMH 5R01MH104553 2014-19
This trial will test the hypothesis that an 18-month CVD risk reduction program consisting of smoking cessation treatment, diet, and exercise will improve cardiovascular health in persons with serious mental illness.

Reduced nicotine cigarettes in smokers with mood and anxiety disorders
NIH 4P50DA036107  2013-18
The aim of this study is to evaluate the effect of progressive nicotine reduction in cigarettes on smoking behavior in smokers with mood and anxiety disorders.

Integrated behavioral diabetes management for individuals with serious mental illness
MGH Executive Office on Community Health Community Health (ECOCH)/Health Equity Grant  2016 – 18
The primary aim of this project is to evaluate the efficacy and feasibility of a behavioral diabetes intervention integrated into psychiatric care for adults with serious mental illness.

Nancy A. Rigotti, MD

Founding Director, Tobacco Research & Treatment Center; Associate Chief, Division of General Internal Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

nrigotti@partners.org
617-724-3548

Dr. Rigotti is a general internist with research training and expertise in clinical epidemiology, clinical trials, outcomes research, implementation science, and tobacco control policy. She is Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School and MGH, Associate Chief of the MGH Division of General Internal Medicine, and former president of both the Society for Nicotine and Tobacco Research and the Society of General Internal Medicine. Her research goal for more than 30 years has been to reduce the toll of tobacco-related disease by identifying innovative tobacco cessation treatments, by promoting delivery of effective tobacco cessation treatment in the health care delivery system in the U.S. and globally, and by evaluating the impact of tobacco control public policies. Using randomized controlled trials and observational studies, she has demonstrated the effectiveness of tobacco treatment interventions offered to smokers in the context of hospitalization, outpatient primary care, prenatal care, and specialty practice (e.g., cardiology, oncology), as well as system-level population health outreach. She has recently extended this work to incorporate health care system interventions to other addictive drug use. Dr. Rigotti has conducted clinical trials of FDA-approved or investigational smoking cessation pharmacotherapies, including bupropion, varenicline, rimonabant, and a nicotine vaccine.

Dr. Rigotti served as a scientific editor for the 1989 U.S. Surgeon General’s Report on Smoking. Her early epidemiologic studies demonstrated the dramatic rise in tobacco use by young adults in the 1990s, bringing attention to a previously ignored group. She conducted some of the first formal evaluations of smoke-free public policies and restrictions on youth access to tobacco. More recently, she has studied tobacco cessation interventions globally and investigated the impact of electronic cigarettes on smoking cessation. Dr. Rigotti founded and directs MGH’s multi-disciplinary Tobacco Research and Treatment Center. It combines an institutionally-funded MGH clinical service with an externally-funded research group that conducts projects to identify and implement effective tobacco cessation interventions in the health care delivery system. Her pioneering role and outstanding research was recognized in 2015 with the highest award for research given by the Society of General Internal Medicine, the John Eisenberg National Award for Career Achievement in Research. She is also an elected member of the American Association of Physicians. She served on the Institute of Medicine committee creating the 2015 report on agent-based modeling for tobacco control and the 2018 National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine’s FDA-commissioned report on the health risks and benefits of electronic cigarettes. She has been continuously funded as PI for over 30 years on grants awarded by NIDA, NHLBI, NCI, NIMH and foundations. Dr. Rigotti also has extensive mentoring experience previously supported by a K24; she has mentored over 30 trainees from internal medicine, pediatrics, family medicine, and psychiatry. Many of her trainees have secured career development awards and R01s and have progressed to leadership positions in academic medicine in the U.S. and abroad. Dr. Rigotti also serves as Director of the MGH’s Office of Women’s Careers which supports academic career advancement for female faculty.

Current Grants

Comparative effectiveness of post-discharge strategies for hospitalized smokers
NHLBI R01 HL111821 2012-22
The primary goal of this grant is to test an innovative strategy to efficiently sustain patient contact after discharge by streamlining the delivery of post-discharge smoking interventions to maximize their uptake.

A proactive population health strategy to offer tobacco dependence treatment to smokers in a primary care practice network
Pfizer Independent Grants for Learning and Change 2015-18
The primary goal of this grant is to create and test a novel population health strategy to increase the delivery of tobacco dependence treatment.

Career Development Program in Substance Use and Addiction Medicine
NIDA 1K12DA043490 2017-22
The goal of this Mentored Award is to develop a multidisciplinary program at MGH that will support intensive mentored training and career development of promising post-doctoral clinician-scientists who aim to establish independent research programs in patient-oriented addiction research.

Extended care for smoking cessation following psychiatric hospitalization
NIH/NIMH 1 R01 MH104562 (Brown, Rigotti, multiple PIs) 2014-19
This study is a randomized controlled trial testing the effectiveness of a multi-modal smoking cessation program for smokers being discharged from an inpatient psychiatric hospital.

Margarita Alegria, MD


Chief of the Disparities Research Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Medicine and Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

MALEGRIA@mgh.harvard.edu
617-724-4987

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.

Current Grants

Mechanisms underlying racial/ethnic disparities in mental disorders
NIMHD R01 MD009719 2015 – 19
The study addresses gaps in our understanding of patterns of onset and persistence of mental disorders for racial/ethnic minorities and investigates four mechanisms that might help explain these disparities.

Building community capacity for disability prevention for minority elders
NIA/NIMH R01 AG046149 2014 – 19
The rapid expansion of the aging population is outstripping the development of mental health and disability prevention services necessary to respond to their needs. This project evaluates whether partnerships between academic researchers, minority elders, and the community-based organizations which serve them can expand community resources and capabilities to effectively provide mental health services and reduce the risk of disability in minority elders in need.

Understanding the experience of majority and minority status through Photovoice
William T. Grant Foundation 185355 2016 – 19
This project seeks to identify mechanisms for disparities intervention via policy and practice initiatives aimed at increasing protective factors and reducing risk factors associated with negative behavioral health (elevated symptoms of depression, suicidality, and substance misuse). The goal is to reduce behavioral health inequality between majority and minority racial/ethnic groups living in four different neighborhoods.

A new statistical paradigm for measuring psychopathology dimensions in youth
NIMH R01 MH100155 2013 – 18
This supplement utilizes differential item functioning methodology to determine whether mental health survey items presented to Latinos in Spanish differ from those presented to non-Latinos in English in how they relate to underlying latent psychopathology constructs. It also seeks to identify key questions that can be used to screen for depression, anxiety, and bipolar disorder in Spanish-speaking Latinos.

Effects of social context, culture, and minority status on depression & anxiety
NIMH 5R01MH098374-03 2012-2017
The longitudinal project is the first to investigate the long-term effects of early experiences of minority status and acculturation on Latino young-adult mental illness. It holds much promise for understanding the individual, family, and neighborhood-level factors to target for interventions to prevent the onset of major depressive disorder and anxiety and depressive symptoms in minority youth and young adults.

Travis Baggett, MD, MPH

Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Assistant Physician in Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital; Director of Research, Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program

tbaggett@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-9314

As a faculty physician-investigator in the MGH Division of General Internal Medicine (DGIM), Dr. Baggett maintains an active portfolio of community-based research focusing on the health and health care needs of people experiencing homelessness, with particular attention to the burden, consequences, and management of tobacco use and other substance use disorders in this population. He is the PI of two ongoing, externally-funded, full-scale behavioral intervention trials at Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program (BHCHP), each listed below. He is the recipient of several institutional awards in recognition of his innovative scientific contributions, including a recent five-year intramural award in support of a new line of work focusing on innovative strategies to improve outcomes among people experiencing homelessness with opioid use disorder. As MGH Site Director of the HMS T32 Fellowship in General Medicine and Primary Care, he has developed a track record of mentoring fellows and junior faculty who are interested in improving the health of vulnerable and hard-to-reach populations. He currently mentors two K12 awardees – Dr. Benjamin Bearnot and Dr. Danielle Fine.

Current Grants

Financial Incentives for Homeless Smokers: A Community-Based RCT
NIH – National Cancer Institute R01CA235617; 2019 – 24
The major goal of this project is to examine the effect of financial incentives for smoking abstinence among homeless-experienced smokers in Boston.

Lung Cancer Screening Navigation for Homeless People: A Pragmatic Trial
American Cancer Society RSG-17-157-01-CPPB; 2018 – 22
The major goal of this award is to conduct a pragmatic trial of lung cancer screening navigation for homeless-experienced people at high risk for lung cancer.

Using Innovative Strategies to Improve Outcomes among People Experiencing Homelessness with Opioid Use Disorder
Research Scholar Award (MGH Research Institute); 2021 – 26
The major goal of this award is to conduct a community-based program of research to improve treatment retention and patient-centered recovery outcomes among homeless-experienced individuals with opioid use disorder.

Ingrid V. Bassett, MD, MPH

Infectious Disease Unit, Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

ibassett@mgh.harvard.edu
617-726-0637

Dr. Bassett focuses on innovative ways to screen for HIV and tuberculosis and to optimize linkage to care for these diseases in South Africa. She is PI of both the multi-site Sizanani randomized controlled trial (R01 MH090326) evaluating the efficacy of health system navigators for improving linkage to HIV care and tuberculosis treatment completion, and the randomized pilot trial to assess the clinical impact of mobile, community-based GeneXpert Mycobacterium tuberculosis/resistance to rifampicin (MTB/RIF) screening (R21AI110264). The tobacco use prevalence in these studies is 20-30%, which could provide a K12 scholar the opportunity to investigate the relationship between tobacco use and poorer outcomes of tuberculosis and HIV treatment. Dr. Bassett is an accomplished mentor who won the highly-competitive 2013 Harvard Medical School Young Mentor Award and is Director of Mentoring Programs for the Harvard University Center for AIDS Research. She mentors three post-doctoral trainees and collaborates with Dr. Freedberg.

Current Grants

What happens after diagnosis: Characterizing long-term HIV care trajectories and mortality in South Africa
NIMH R01 MH108427 2016 – 20
The purpose of this project is to study long-term patterns of HIV care engagement and mortality, and the social, behavioral, and geographic factors that influence them. This work will inform physicians, policymakers, and governments on how to design interventions to maximize the long-term effectiveness of HIV treatment programs.

South Africa’s new Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution program: Assessing the clinic, patient, and community impact
ECOR Formulaic Bridge Funding MGH Executive Committee on Research 2017-18
This project will comprehensively evaluate the impact of South Africa’s new Central Chronic Medicine Dispensing and Distribution (CCMDD) program at all 10 public sector clinics in Umlazi by: 1) prospectively assessing patient uptake of CCMDD and patient factors associated with favorable early clinical outcomes for CCMDD enrollees and comparing outcomes with non-enrollees, 2) evaluating facilitators of and barriers to adoption of CCMDD by patients, clinic staff, and administrators using qualitative methods, and 3) evaluating virologic suppression over time across all 10 public sector clinics in Umlazi using programmatic electronic health record data.

Joan A. Camprodon-Gimenez, MD, PhD


Director, Division of Neuropsychiatry; Director, Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinical Service; Director, Laboratory for Neuropsychiatry & Neuromodulation at Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School

jcamprodon@mgh.harvard.edu
617-724-5600

Dr. Camprodon is the director of the Division of Neuropsychiatry at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. Clinically, he is the founding director of the MGH Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) Clinical Service, a member of the Psychiatric Neurosurgery Committee and an attending physician in the departments of Psychiatry (Neuropsychiatry) and Neurology (Cognitive and Behavioral Neurology). He is board-certified in Psychiatry and Behavioral Neurology-Neuropsychiatry. Scientifically, he directs the Laboratory for Neuropsychiatry and Neuromodulation. His research uses multimodal combinations of neuroimaging and brain stimulation to investigate neural circuitry and plasticity in a translational manner. His laboratory works with a wide range of noninvasive and invasive neuromodulation techniques including transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS), electroconvulsive therapy (ECT), and deep brain stimulation (DBS), among others. He also uses functional and structural MRI, electroencephalogram (EEG), and innovative simultaneous combinations of TMS and tDCS with neuroimaging. Dr. Camprodon is interested in understanding basic circuit properties of human neural networks and how maladaptive plastic changes lead to neuropsychiatric disorders. Critical efforts are geared towards applying the paradigms and methods of basic systems neuroscience to develop high-impact clinical tools, identify targets for therapeutic action, and design individualized image-guided neuromodulation treatments.

Current Grants

Personalized target selection of TMS therapy using functional vs. structural connectivity MRI
NIH R21 MH113018-01 (Camprodon, Ning) 2017-19
This project aims to develop individualized image-guided strategies for therapeutic Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) based on state-of-the art diffusion MRI (dMRI) tractography. We will retrospectively analyze both functional connectivity and diffusion tractography scans from 500 subjects in the Human Connectome Project database and 20 patients with depression treated with TMS in our center. Results will establish the comparative reliability of these imaging modalities to define therapeutic cortical targets in individual patients, in addition to estimating the clinical efficacy of dMRI-guided TMS and proposing its mechanisms of action based on white matter microstructural changes.

A transdiagnostic assessment of Electroconvulsive Therapy modulation of anhedonia and reward circuitry: Targets, biomarkers and predictors of response
NIH R01 MH112737-01 2017-22
This study will use Human Connectome Project neuroimaging protocols combined with dimensional behavioral measures to understand how ECT modulates reward brain circuits and dimensions in patients with unipolar and bipolar depression.

Modulating inhibitory control networks in gambling disorder with theta burst stimulation
NIH R21 DA042271-01 (Camprodon, Makris, Pallanti) 2017-19
In this project we will implement multimodal structural magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and functional MRI methods of analysis in a population of pathological gamblers undergoing neuromodulation for motor inhibition control in order to further our understanding of this area of inquiry.

Neuromodulation of memory and language networks in Alzheimer’s Disease
NIH R21AG056958-01 (Camprodon, Dickerson, Eldaief) 2017-19
We will examine the selectivity of rTMS modulation using simultaneous functional MRI and FDG-PET, and will investigate the effects on memory and language task performance. The ultimate goal of this research is to begin to determine how TMS changes brain network function in patients with diseased brains and whether this could potentially support benefits in cognitive function in typical and atypical clinical forms of Alzheimer’s Disease.

Maurizio Fava, MD


Associate Dean for Clinical & Translational Research; Director, Division of Clinical Research of the MGH Research Institute; Executive Vice Chair for Research, MGH Department of Psychiatry; Executive Director, Clinical Trials Network & Institute (CTNI); Slater Family Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

mfava@mgh.harvard.edu
617-724-2513

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. With an H-Index>100 and over 50,000 citations, Dr. Fava is extremely productive, and his trainees have gone on to productive independent academic research careers. Dr. Fava has served with Dr. Evins as joint PI on two NIDA R01 projects and with Drs. Evins and Rigotti on NIDA U01, ‘Cooperative Drug Discovery Group for Nicotine Dependence.’

Current Grants

Neurobiological underpinnings of placebo response in depression
NIMH R01 MH102279 2015 – 20
We hypothesize that mesolimbic dopaminergic pathways implicated in reward anticipation, reinforcement learning, and expectation play a critical role in mediating placebo responses in Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). In this research, we will use integrated PET/fMRI imaging techniques to compare simultaneously [11C]raclopride displacement (an indirect measure of endogenous dopamine release) and blood-oxygen-level-dependent (BOLD) signals within the mesolimbic pathways in patients with MDD who are responders versus non-responders to placebo. The proposed research is profoundly innovative with respect to trial design, technology, and its multi-level integration, probing psychological and neurobiological constructs assumed to be crucially implicated in placebo response. A better understanding of the neurobiological basis of placebo effect has enormous potential for harnessing the healing capacity of placebo, developing new generations of clinical trials yielding better differentiation between novel antidepressants and placebo, and ultimately leading to new treatments for MDD.

Omega-3 fatty acids for MDD with high inflammation: A personalized approach
NIH/NCCIH 1UG3AT008857-01 2015 – 20
Work from our previous R-01 identified a homogeneous set of subjects with MDD who were particularly responsive to the n-3 PUFA eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA): subjects with MDD who had multiple biomarkers indicating high inflammation. The overall aim of this application is to extend our previous findings by performing a dose response proof of concept trial to identify a biomarker of response: We propose an 80-subject, two-site, 12-week double-blind randomized trial investigating the efficacy of 1, 2, or 4 g/day of EPA-enriched PUFA monotherapy vs. placebo in subjects with MDD, obesity, and baseline levels of hs-CRP >3mg/l.

Fostering Research Mentorship and Training during Psychiatry Residency
NIH-NIMH R25MH094612 2017 – 22
The major goal of this program is to provide support and infrastructure to establish a well-integrated research education program—the MGH/McLean Psychiatry Research Concentration Program—in the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency Program, which aims to attract and train residents to become future psychiatrist-scientists in basic, translational, and patient-oriented research, while increasing research literacy among all psychiatry residents.

Kenneth Freedberg, MD, MSc


Director of the Medical Practice Evaluation Center at Massachusetts General Hospital; Director of the Program in HIV Epidemiology and Outcomes Research at Harvard University Center for AIDS Research (CFAR)

kfreedberg@mgh.harvard.edu
617-724-8597

Dr. Freedberg focuses on evaluating clinical outcomes and cost-effectiveness of care in the U.S. and globally. He has developed widely-used computer models of disease to incorporate epidemiologic, clinical, and cost data. The focus has been on HIV, TB, and other infectious as well as non-infectious chronic diseases. He has used these models to determine the cost and cost-effectiveness of different strategies for HIV care in the US as well as in countries in Europe, Africa, South America, and Asia. This research has informed clinical guidelines for HIV and other diseases. For the past 17 years, Dr. Freedberg has served as Program Director for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)-sponsored T32 Program in AIDS Clinical Research Training. He has served as a mentor to over 20 post-doctoral trainees and four pre-doctoral trainees and currently mentors six post-doctoral trainees. Fifteen of these trainees have received federal funding, including K01, K23, K24, K25 and R01 awards. He received the Clifford A. Barger Mentoring Award at Harvard Medical School for his commitment to mentoring young investigators. Dr. Freedberg’s widely-recognized research in simulation modeling and cost-effectiveness analysis and his extensive track record of successful mentorship make him a valuable addition to this proposal. He collaborates with Drs. Rigotti and Bassett.

Current Grants

Optimizing HIV care in less developed countries
NIAID R01 AI058736 2003 – 18
This study assesses the clinical impact, cost, and cost effectiveness of alternative strategies for HIV management in South Africa, India, Côte d’Ivoire, and Brazil.

Cost-effectiveness of preventing HIV complications
NIAID R01 AI042006 1998 – 2020
The goals of the project are to develop a computer simulation model of advanced HIV disease and to use that model to project the costs and consequences of alternative patient care strategies.

HIV cure studies: Risk, risk perception, and ethics
NIAID R01 AI114617 2015 – 19
The goal of this project is to assess the objective risks from HIV cure study participation, assess HIV investigators’ and HIV patients’ ethical evaluation and willingness to partake in such studies, and recommend ethical ways to conduct HIV cure studies.

Calibration and simulation of the Botswana Combination Prevention Project
R01 MH104042 2015 – 18
Using mathematical modeling methods, this project will examine the impact of sexual networks on HIV transmission in Botswana.

AIDS Clinical Trials Group Network (“ACTG”)
UO1 AI068636 2006 – 20
The goal of this project is to conduct cost-effectiveness studies alongside selected ACTG trials using the CEPAC (Cost-Effectiveness of Preventing AIDS Complications) model. Modeling studies will use efficacy and cost data from the clinical trials to project long-term clinical outcomes and costs, and to evaluate the cost-effectiveness of the clinical trial interventions.

Pharmacogenomics of HIV Therapy
NIH/NIAID R01 AI077505 2015 – 20
The goal of this project is to model pharmacogenomics data in order to quantify the cost-effectiveness of human genetics testing to inform prescribing of medications used to treat HIV-1 infections.

Novel approaches to the design and evaluation of combination HIV prevention

NIMH R01 MH105203 2014 – 19
This study will use novel mathematical modeling methods to examine combination HIV prevention and new methods to examine the value of economic incentives to improve HIV outcomes including linkage, retention, and adherence.

Effectiveness of nurse-delivered care for adherence/mood in HIV in S. Africa
NIMH R01 MH103770 2015 – 20
This project is an effectiveness trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for adherence and depression, to be delivered by nurse interventionists in South Africa.

Rapid urine-based screening for tuberculosis to reduce AIDS-related mortality in hospitalized patients in Africa (STAMP) trial
Medical Research Council 2015 – 18
The main aim of this work is to determine whether use of a fundamentally new approach to rapid diagnostic screening for HIV-associated TB using novel, high-sensitivity urine-based testing reduces all-cause mortality among HIV-infected patients admitted to medical wards in hospitals in South Africa.

Jodi Gilman, PhD

Jodi Gilman
Director of Neuroscience, Center for Addiction Medicine; Associate Professor, Harvard Medical School

jgilman1@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-7293

Dr. Gilman is a highly productive neuroscientist focused on the neurobiological determinants and consequences of drug use. She conducted her post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Evins, is now an Associate Professor at Harvard Medical School, and serves as Director of Neuroscience at the MGH Center for Addiction Medicine. She is the recipient of a Career Development Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse entitled “Neurobehavioral Characterization of Social Influence in Drug Addiction,” as well as a recipient of the Norman Zinberg Fellowship in Addiction Psychiatry from Harvard Medical School entitled “Decision-Making in the Context of Social Influence in Young Adult Marijuana Users,” with Dr. Evins as her primary mentor. She is now supported by R01DA042043 (Medical Marijuana, Neurocognition and Subsequent Substance Use) and has submitted R01DA042787 (The Effect of Marijuana Abstinence on Mood and Cognition in Regular Marijuana Users with Major Depressive Disorder). Dr. Gilman has successfully mentored pre-doctoral students who are now pursuing PhDs in neuroscience in excellent laboratories around the country and is currently mentoring two post-doctoral and two pre-doctoral fellows.

Current Grants

Neurobehavioral characterization of social influence in drug addiction
NIDA 4K01DA034093 2013-18
To goal of this grant is to understand the role of social decision-making in drug use by conducting a neuroimaging study in marijuana-using young adults and matched controls. This will allow us to (1) determine whether there is a difference between the groups in susceptibility to social influence, and (2) evaluate the relationship between social influence behavior and neural activation in brain circuits underlying social learning.

Medical marijuana, neurocognition, and subsequent substance use
NIDA R01DA042043 2016-21
This study will use a randomized controlled trial design to test whether medical marijuana patients experience unintended negative consequences from medical marijuana use, such as progression to addiction, neurocognitive impairments, and brain-based changes. The resulting data will inform clinicians, scientists, and policy-makers about unforeseen effects and potential outcomes of medical marijuana policies.

Shelly Greenfield, MD, MPH

Chief Academic Officer, Kristine M. Trustey Endowed Chair in Psychiatry, Chief of the Division of Women’s Mental Health, and
Director of the Alcohol, Drug, and Addiction Clinical and Health Services Research Program at McLean Hospital; Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

sgreenfield@mclean.harvard.edu

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.

Dr. Greenfield is available to work as a co-mentor with any of the other K12 mentors listed.

Current Grants

Fostering Research Mentorship and Training during Psychiatry Residency
NIH-NIMH R25MH094612 2017 – 22
The major goal of this grant is to provide support and infrastructure to establish a well-integrated research education program—the MGH/McLean Psychiatry Research Concentration Program—in the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH)/McLean Hospital Adult Psychiatry Residency Program. This program aims to attract and train residents to become future psychiatrist-scientists in basic, translational, and patient-oriented research, while increasing research literacy among all psychiatry residents.

Women’s Mental Health Initiative Fund
McLean Hospital Women’s Mental Health Initiative 2010-20
This fund provides support for innovative research and clinical programs in the area of women’s mental health. It also includes support for junior investigators and pilot research projects.

John F. Kelly, PhD


Elizabeth R. Spallin Associate Professor of Psychiatry in Addiction Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Founder and Director, Recovery Research Institute (RRI) at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH); Program Director, Addiction Recovery Management Service (ARMS) at MGH; Associate Director, MGH Center for Addiction Medicine

jkelly11@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-1980

Dr. Kelly is a former President of the American Psychological Association (APA) Society of Addiction Psychology, and is 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 such as the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy (ONDCP), the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), and the National Institutes of Health (NIH), as well as to foreign governments and national non-federal treatment institutions such as the Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation and Caron Foundation.

His clinical and research work has focused on addiction treatment and the recovery process, mechanisms of behavior change, and in reducing stigma and discrimination among individuals suffering from addiction. He has published more than 140 peer-reviewed articles, reviews, and chapters in the field of addiction science and is currently an associate editor for several academic journals in the addiction field. His work has been supported by R01 and R21 awards from the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) and the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), and he received a K24 award from NIAAA to support mentorship of junior investigators in patient-oriented addiction research. He collaborates with Drs. Evins, Weiss, and Fava on the Program Faculty.

Current Grants

Mentoring in patient-oriented addiction research
NIAAA K24AA022136 2013 – 18
This grant is designed to develop specific content expertise in treatment and recovery policy, and the design, implementation, and evaluation of treatment and recovery support service combinations. This grant also allows for mentoring junior investigators in patient-orientated addiction research (POAR).

Characterization and evaluation of addiction recovery community centers
NIAAA R21AA022693 2014 – 18
This study will characterize and evaluate the public health and addiction recovery utility of addiction recovery community centers (RCCs) in the United States. This experimental/developmental investigation will characterize RCCs in New England and New York, and survey RCC clients to examine abstinence and remission rates and the accrual of recovery capital and enhanced quality of life.

Report of Findings from a Systematic Review of the Scientific Literature on Recovery Support Services in the United States
SAMHSA HHSS283201200031I/HHSS28342002T 2017
This contract is for the development, revision, and finalization of a report on existing research pertaining to patient outcomes of participants who utilize recovery support services.

Improving access to treatment and recovery
SAMHSA HHSP233201700228A – SAM202405 2017 – 18
This is a contract between SAMHSA and the RRI to produce a series of webcasts to educate addiction treatment professionals, public health field staff, and medical personnel, including doctors, nurses, and behavioral health support staff, on the need to change perceptions about individuals with substance use disorders (SUDs) and related conditions. The webcasts will address the need to curb biases and skewed perceptions that may prevent those who have a substance use disorder from seeking the services they need.

Douglas Levy, PhD


Associate Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

dlevy3@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-3595

Dr. Levy studies how policies in public health, healthcare finance, and health services can improve primary and higher order prevention to improve population health. The principal applications of this overall research agenda are the study of policies to reduce the harms of tobacco use and the design and implementation of policies to improve food choice. In tobacco research, he has assessed public policies to reduce secondhand smoke including smoking bans in multiunit public housing. He also has a secondary research interest in using cost-effectiveness methods to help prioritize resource use and understand competing incentives to adopt alternative policies. His goal is to find effective and efficient strategies to address the leading preventable causes of death. Dr. Levy is the PI and/or Co-I of several smoking policy-related grants including a NHLBI-funded project, a Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI)-funded project led by Dr. Eden Evins, and an NHLBI R01 led by Dr. Rigotti. He also collaborates with other mentors (Drs. Park, Thorndike, and Winickoff).

Current Grants

Worksite social connections and food choice: Identifying opportunities for obesity prevention
NIDDK R21-DK109548 2016-18
This study uses transactional data from a hospital cafeteria system to identify social connections and test the influence of peers and environment on food choice. The study will also test whether interventions to alter employee food choice are transmitted to employees not subject to the intervention.

Health outcomes and health care spending among residents of smoke-free public housing
NHLBI 2R01 HL112212 2017-21
Our goal is to evaluate the impact of smoke-free rules in public housing on residents’ tobacco treatment use, adverse health events, and health care spending.

Bertha K. Madras, PhD


Psychobiologist, Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital; Professor of Psychobiology, Harvard Medical School;
Founding Chair of the Division on Neurochemistry, Harvard Medical School

bertha_madras@hms.harvard.edu
617-855-2406

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.

Current Grants

Long term THC elicits distinct changes in adolescent brain dopamine signaling
1R01DA042178 2017-22
Aim 1 will quantify age- and sex-dependent expression of D1-D2 heteromer and whether modulation of heteromer activity is reflected in rewarding or aversive behaviors. Aim 2 will measure THC’s effects on D1-D2 heteromer expression, on behaviors, and on plausible downstream mediators of behaviors as a function of age and sex, and whether modulation of D1-D2 heteromer activity affects THC-induced behaviors. Aim 3 will manipulate D1-D2 heteromer expressing neurons in NAc and consequences to THC-induced behaviors. Aim 4 will determine if THC alters DCC expression in the adolescent primate prefrontal cortex and dopamine prefrontal cortex circuitry. These novel biological substrates of THC will yield insights into heightened THC (or marijuana) reward in adolescents, or increased anxiety in females, and a possible mechanism by which adolescent marijuana use can elevate the risk for psychosis and cognitive impairment. Conceivably, novel targets for medication development may emerge from these newly identified biological substrates.

Conall O’Cleirigh, PhD


Director of Behavioral Medicine and Associate Director of the Global Division’s T32 Fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital; Assistant Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School

COCLEIRIGH@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-0385

Dr. O’Cleirigh’s principal research interest is in adapting cognitive behavioral techniques for psychiatric and substance use disorders, with an emphasis on HIV prevention and treatment, supported by grants from NIDA, NIMH, NICHD, and NIAID. In the past seven years he has mentored 17 pre- and post-doctoral fellows, three of whom he continues to mentor as post-doctoral fellows, and eight of whom are now faculty members at Harvard Medical School or hold Assistant Professor Faculty positions in psychology departments or research medical centers throughout the country. He collaborates with Dr. Evins in mentoring a K23 awardee (Dr. Magdison) who is studying the effectiveness of a community health worker intervention in HIV treatment compliance and in provision of evidence-based smoking cessation treatment to smokers with serious mental illness.

Current Grants

Fostering resilience to psychosocial and HIV risk in Indian MSM
NIMH 1R01MH100627 2014-19
This proposal seeks to test the efficacy of a self-acceptance-based intervention in comparison to HIV/VCT among HIV-infected and uninfected MSM in Chennai and Mumbai, India, and to examine the extent to which reductions in HIV sexual risk behavior are mediated by increased self-acceptance/self-esteem, and decreased distress.

Nurse-Delivered CBT for depression-adherence in HIV primary care in South Africa
NIMH R01MH103770 2015-20
This project is an effectiveness trial of cognitive behavioral therapy for ART adherence and depression, to be delivered by nurse interventionists in Cape Town, South Africa, to patients living with HIV and depression who have failed first-line treatment.

Elyse Park, PhD, MPH


Director of Behavioral Research, Tobacco Research and Treatment Center at Massachusetts General Hospital; Associate Director of Survivorship Research and Psychosocial Services for the Mass General Cancer Center Survivorship Program; Director of Behavioral Research, MGH Benson-Henry Institute for Mind Body Medicine; Associate Professor of Psychiatry (Psychology), Harvard Medical School/Mongan Institute for Health Policy Center

epark@mgh.harvard.edu
617-724-6836

Dr. Park’s research focuses on improving and integrating behavioral health treatment among cancer populations and populations at risk for cancer, especially tobacco users. She develops motivational and mind-body interventions for smoking cessation and chronic stress. She has an extensive portfolio of research integrating tobacco cessation interventions into clinical settings, including prenatal care, lung screening, and her current R01 and K24 on smoking cessation integrated into cancer care. She is also an expert in qualitative research design and directs the Qualitative Research Unit at the MGH Division of Clinical research. She is active nationally in many expert panels on tobacco cessation in cancer care including the Steering Committee for Smoking Cessation Initiatives at NCI Cancer Centers, the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s Tobacco Taskforce, and the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Guidelines for Smoking Cessation. She currently mentors three post-doctoral trainees, two pre-doctoral trainees, and many junior faculty; she collaborates closely with Drs. Levy, Rigotti, and Winickoff.

Current Grants

Examining delivery of integrated tobacco treatment in cancer care
NCI K24 CA197382 2015-20
The goal of this grant is to expand our knowledge of how to develop and deliver evidence-based tobacco treatment for diverse cancer patients.

Krishna Reddy, MD, SM

Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School; Attending Pulmonary and Critical Care Physician, Massachusetts General Hospital

kpreddy@mgh.harvard.edu
617-726-1993

Dr. Reddy’s research focuses on the intersection of tobacco use, HIV, and tuberculosis (TB). He applies methods of mathematical modeling, clinical epidemiology, and cost-effectiveness analysis to address policy-relevant questions. His overarching goals are the design, development, and application of evidence- and model-based approaches to clinical decision-making and public health policy around tobacco, HIV, and TB.

Dr. Reddy is a faculty investigator in the Medical Practice Evaluation Center research group and the Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, both at MGH. His US-focused research involves mathematical modeling of tobacco- and nicotine-related behaviors, clinical and economic outcomes, and cessation interventions. Supported by a K01 award from NIH, he developed a novel mathematical model (Simulation of Tobacco and Nicotine Outcomes and Policy [STOP]) to study clinical and economic outcomes of tobacco use and cessation among diverse populations. He has been the first author of two manuscripts examining the impact of tobacco smoking and smoking cessation on clinical outcomes among people with HIV in the US. Both received substantial attention from the scientific and lay media. Dr. Reddy’s international-focused research involves modeling of TB care strategies and the intersection of tobacco control, HIV, and TB. He received an R01 award to use modeling approaches to evaluate clinical and economic outcomes of tobacco use and cessation, HIV, and TB in South Africa.

Dr. Reddy has expanded his modeling research methodologies to the study of electronic cigarettes. He is extending the STOP model to include electronic cigarette use behaviors and associated clinical and economic outcomes. He is the first author of an electronic cigarette-focused paper recently accepted for publication in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine. Dr. Reddy’s research brings together collaborators with expertise in policy-relevant simulation modeling and in tobacco and nicotine epidemiology and control. He has previously mentored predoctoral and postdoctoral fellows in simulation modeling research, resulting in two peer-reviewed publications.

Randi Schuster, PhD

Randi SchusterDirector of Neuropsychology and Principal Investigator, Center for Addiction Medicine; Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School

rschuster@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-6673

Dr. Schuster is a licensed, child-trained neuropsychologist. She uses a multi-disciplinary approach to define the biological and environmental determinants of adolescent nicotine, cannabis, and alcohol use and mechanisms underlying development of problem substance use. She has aimed to understand cognitive predecessors of adolescent cannabis and tobacco use, effects of cannabis and tobacco use on cognitive performance, and how these and other factors, such as genetics and environment, impact treatment engagement, treatment response, and functional outcomes. She has completed studies in adolescents and young adults with and without psychiatric illness using EMA, behavioral, physiologic, and neuroimaging approaches to define acute and residual effects of cannabis, tobacco, and alcohol on cognition, mood, and drug withdrawal. She has worked and published with Dr. Don Hedeker (consultant) on EMA-based studies evaluating real-time effects of cannabis and nicotine among youth. Her training in community-based research is reflected in her extensive ties with public schools and colleges in Greater Boston. She has surveyed over 10,000 students in school-based settings about their substance use behaviors. Through her program of school-based research, she has also become active in collaborative work to define best practice community-level interventions to minimize population-level impact of substance use on student health and psychiatric well-being. She is currently funded by a NIDA K23 grant to define the time course and degree of neurocognitive recovery during one month of cannabis abstinence in non-treatment seeking high school students who use cannabis at least weekly. She has enrolled nearly 300 adolescents in this six week, nine-visit protocol in which participants are randomly assigned to contingency management that incentivizes cannabis abstinence or a monitoring control with no abstinence requirement. To date, her team has conducted nearly 2,700 study visits for this project, with a retention rate of 85%.

Current Grants

Cognitive Recovery with Cannabis Abstinence Among High-School Aged Adolescents
NIDA 1K23DA042946-03; 2017 – 22
This study will combine behavioral, cognitive, and genetic measures with a prospective design of change in attention and executive function during 30 days of cannabis abstinence. Dr. Evins is the Primary Mentor.

Effect of Six-Months of Cannabis Abstinence on Cognition, Academic, and Neural Outcomes in Adolescents
Claflin Distinguished Scholar Award; 2019 – 21
This pilot study will employ a two-arm, within-subject, parallel group design to examine the effects of six months of cannabis abstinence on cognitive, academic, and neural functioning in high school students.

Interrupting Developmental Pathways to Schizophrenia: Protecting Youth at Risk for Cannabis Use and Psychosis
MGH Neuroscience and MGH Research Institute Scientific Projects to Accelerate Research and Collaboration (SPARC); 2019 – 21
This study will examine whether emotion dysregulation represents a transdiagnostic, modifiable, developmental target linking cannabis use in early adolescence to later psychosis.

Development of Best Practice Guidelines for School-Based Interventions for Substance Use
Massachusetts Department of Public Health; 2020 – 24
In collaboration with The Massachusetts Department of Public Health, Bureau of Substance Addiction Services, this project aims to establish best practice, evidence-based guidelines for the continuum of school-based substance use interventions, including alternatives to discipline for substance use infractions and protocols for timely, indicated treatment referral for students negatively impacted by vaping, alcohol, cannabis, tobacco, or other drugs.

Characterizing Proximal Risk for Depressive Symptoms and Suicidal Ideation with Acute Cannabis Use and Withdrawal
MGH Executive Committee on Research; 2021 – 22
This study seeks to disentangle relationships between acute cannabis use and withdrawal on proximal depression and suicide risk and recovery by incorporating time-varying patterns of substance use, mood and suicidal ideation, and guide the development of scalable, individualized, accessible, and affordable interventions aimed to reduce depression and suicide risk among adolescents.

Jordan W. Smoller, MD, MS, ScD


Associate Chief for Research, Department of Psychiatry; Director of Psychiatric Genetics and of the Psychiatric and Neurodevelopment Genetics Unit and the Precision Medicine Unit, Center for Genomic Medicine; Director of the Omics Unit of the Division of Clinical Research Program, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School; Professor of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health

JSMOLLER@PARTNERS.ORG
617-724-0835

Dr. Smoller leads a research program focused on understanding the genetic and environmental determinants of psychiatric disorders through large-scale genomic/biomarker studies of neuropsychiatric phenotypes, including the international Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC). A strong interest is the biologic/genetic basis for high rates of comorbidity between psychiatric and addictive disorders such as schizophrenia and tobacco dependence. His has extensive experience with the design and conduct of psychiatric genetic studies, including behavioral and neuroimaging intermediate phenotype studies, as well as gene-environment interaction analyses. Dr. Smoller collaborates with Drs. Evins, Fava, Janes, and Dougherty. He serves as genetics consultant on Dr. Evins’ K24, and as co-mentor with Dr. Evins for genetics aims and training of a NIDA K23 (Schuster). He currently mentors four pre-doctoral and three post-doctoral trainees.

Current Grants

Genetic analysis of the international cohort collection for bipolar disorder
NIMH R01 MH106547 2015 – 18
This project will perform genomic characterization of the large International Cohort Collection for Bipolar Disorder to identify common and rare genetic risk loci for bipolar disorder, explore clinically relevant genetic risk models, and characterize the spectrum of genotype-phenotype relevant to bipolar disorder.

A New England enrollment center for the PMI cohort program
NIH/Office of the Director 1OT2OD024612 2016 – 18
The main goal of this project is to recruit 10,000 subjects into the Precision Medicine Initiative, enter their DNA samples into the biobank, and link to EHR data.

Neural and genetic basis of negative valance traits
NIMH R01 MH101486 2013 – 18
This project will inform the development of Research Domain Criteria (RDoC) for the negative valence domain and has a larger goal of grounding mental disorders in underlying biological and psychological dimensions.

The development and neural bases of emotion processing
NIMH R01 MH07882915A1 2012 – 18
The goal of this project is to examine early development of emotion processing capacities in infants and their neural basis. The role of genetic variation on individual differences in fear processing will be explored.

eMERGE Phase III Clinical Center at Partners HealthCare
NHGRI U01HG008685 2015 – 19
The discovery and clinical use of genetic variants associated with both rare Mendelian and more common complex diseases promises to dramatically change the practice of medicine. The eMERGE III Clinical Center at Partners HealthCare will leverage a large Biobank and a rich electronic medical record to define the phenotypic impact of mutations emerging from sequencing and then return results on selected variants to Biobank participants via a clinical trial.

Understanding the connections among genes, environment, family processes, and mental health
NIMH R01 MH110872 2017 – 21
This project will collect biosamples as well as measures of social and family environment and psychopathology in a long-term community and family panel study in Nepal. The goal is to examine genetic and environmental predictors of risk and resilience for psychiatric disorders and family outcomes.

Anne N. Thorndike, MD, MPH


Assistant Professor of Medicine, Harvard Medical School

ATHORNDIKE@mgh.harvard.edu
617-724-4608

Dr. Thorndike’s research focuses on individual and population-level behavioral interventions to prevent cardiometabolic disease. Her early research, mentored by Dr. Rigotti, focused on testing smoking cessation interventions in clinical settings. Her focus has expanded to include obesity prevention through interventions to promote exercise and nutrition in worksite and community settings. Over the past five years, she has tested interventions in worksite cafeteria and community grocery environments to promote healthy food choices using behavioral economics strategies, such as choice architecture, social norms, and financial incentives. Acknowledging that changing health behaviors requires a multi-level approach, her work focuses on environmental and population-level strategies to change diet, exercise, and smoking behaviors that are major contributors to morbidity and mortality worldwide. Dr. Thorndike has been mentored by Dr. Rigotti since her general medicine fellowship. She also collaborates with Drs. Evins and Levy.

Current Grants

Promoting employee health through the worksite food environment
NHLBI R01 HL125486 2015-20
This study is a randomized controlled trial of 600 employees to test a one-year intervention based on behavioral economics to provide personalized feedback about worksite food choices, energy balance, and social norms plus small financial incentives for healthy worksite food purchases. The aims of the project will be to determine if the intervention prevents weight gain and improves cardiovascular risk factors. Secondary outcomes include dietary intake and healthy eating patterns of socially connected co-workers over two years.

Psychological, cognitive, and genetic factors in a behavioral intervention to prevent weight gain
NIDDK R01 DK114735 2017- 20
This project examines the psychological traits, cognitive skills, and genes that may influence the impact of a behaviorally-informed intervention on dietary choices, weight, and other objective health indicators. This research is being conducted on employees participating in a randomized controlled trial to test an innovative behavioral intervention to prevent weight gain and reduce cardiometabolic risk factors over two years and will examine how psychological traits, cognitive skills, and genes that are associated with obesity and poor health outcomes are specifically targeted by the behavioral intervention.

Influence of genetic risk factors for obesity and circadian rhythms on a behavioral intervention to prevent weight gain in MGH employees
Center for Genomic Medicine, MGH 2017-18
This research will examine the interaction between different genetic variants influencing body weight and circadian rhythms and the effectiveness of the behavioral intervention to prevent weight gain. The results of this project will provide some of the first data on how genetic risk for obesity and circadian rhythms moderate the response to an intervention informed by behavioral economics.

Roger D. Weiss, MD


Chief of the Division of Alcohol and Drug Abuse, McLean Hospital;
Professor of Psychiatry, Massachusetts General Hospital

rweiss@mclean.harvard.edu
617-855-2242

Dr. Weiss is an international expert in co-occurring substance use disorder and psychiatric illness, with landmark work in treatment of substance dependence among those with bipolar disorder and treatment of prescription opiate use disorder. Dr. Weiss brings invaluable expertise in conduct of clinical treatment trials in those with psychiatric (particularly bipolar) and substance use disorders (particularly alcohol and opiate use disorders) to the mentor team of the K12. He serves as director of the Partners HealthCare Clinical Addiction Psychiatry Fellowship Training Program, with Dr. Evins as the MGH Site Director of the fellowship training program. The fellowship, which trains three addiction psychiatrists per year, will be a source of highly promising K12 Scholar candidates. Dr. Weiss serves as a PI of the New England Consortium Node of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network, in which Dr. Rigotti is a co-investigator, and will be able to provide superb mentored clinical research opportunities in this capacity. Dr. Weiss has research collaborations with Drs. Lukas, Janes, and Kelly on the Program faculty. He currently supervises three pre-doctoral trainees and several junior faculty members.

Current Grants

The National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network
NIDA 1U10 DA015831 2015– 20
The purpose of this grant is to conduct drug abuse research studies in medical settings and community treatment programs.

Opioid use and abuse in the dialysis population
NIDA 1R21DA041682 2017-19
The aim of this grant is to compare the cardiac safety of different opioids used to treat opioid use disorder and to treat pain in patients receiving dialysis treatment.

Mentoring in drug abuse and dual diagnosis research
NIDA 1K24 DA022288 2012–18
The aim of this project is to enable Dr. Weiss to expand his capacity to mentor junior investigators who are embarking on a research career in drug abuse.

Timothy E. Wilens, MD

Co-Director, Center for Addiction Medicine; Chief, Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry

twilens@mgh.harvard.edu
617-643-3481

As a child/adolescent, adult, and addiction psychiatrist, Dr. Wilens has a longstanding research interest and experience in the prevention, developmental manifestation, course, treatment, and neurobiology of substance use disorders as it relates to child and adult psychopathology such as Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder, sleep/restless leg syndrome, severe mood dysregulation/bipolar disorder/depression, conduct disorder and psychiatric/cognitive comorbidity such as nonverbal learning disabilities. He also has longstanding interests in the treatment outcomes of these disorders alone and in comorbid states both short and long term. Dr. Wilens is further interested in examining at both a micro- and macro- level, the prevention of the onset of substance use and its manifestations such as opioid use disorders and overdose; as well as its treatment. He has also been involved in developing and testing embedded care models of SUD and other behavioral health treatment in primary and specialty care behavioral, pediatrics, and general primary care practices to help prevent, identify, and treat opioid and other substance use disorders.

Current Grants

Does Treating Young Persons’ Psychopathology Prevent the Onset of Opioid and other SUDs?
NIDA HEAL UG3 DA050252-01; 2019 – 20
NIDA HEAL UH3 DA050252; 2020 – 24
The main aims are UG3: 1) Using a PROMs platform, valid and reliable instrumentation can be implemented; UH3: 2) Treatment of psychopathology in young people will reduce a) the onset of subsequent opioid use, misuse, and OUD; b) the onset of subsequent non-opioid substance use, misuse, and SUD; and c) the onset of subsequent nicotine use, misuse, and use disorder; 3) Treatment of juvenile psychopathology in patients with existing SUD will reduce a) the subsequent development of opioid use and OUD and b) the subsequent worsening of SUD; and 4) Mediators (e.g. reduced psychiatric symptoms, perceived distress) will be identified that help explain the effect of treatment, and moderators (e.g. demographics, clinical, and social network variables) will also be identified that help explain differences in treatment response between patients.

Study of Effects of Treating OUD in Pregnant Women
NIDA CTN 0080 3UG1DA015831-18S5; 2019 – 23
The objective of this study is to examine the effects of treating opioid use disorders (OUD) in pregnant women with extended release (XR) buprenorphine (BUP) compared to sublingual BUP on mother and infant outcomes. It is hypothesized the BUP-XR compared to BUP will not have greater illicit opioid use during pregnancy, 2) will have lower neonatal withdrawal symptoms, and 3) will not have greater post- partum maternal illicit opioid use.

Incorporating the NIDA CTN Common Data Elements (CDEs) into the Electronic Health Record (HER-Epic) in Large Primary Care Practices (PCPs)
NIDA CTN 0062 5U10DA015831; 2015 – 20
This is a phased implementation feasibility and proof-of-concept study to assess incorporating the NIDA CTN common data elements (CDEs) into the electronic health record (HER-Epic) in large primary care practices (PCPs). The main aims are 1) To program the NIDA CTN CDEs, the NIDA/ASAM electronic Clinical Quality Measure (eCQM), and a lean decision support module into Epic, 2) To study the process of implementation of screening and referral using Epic-driven CDEs and clinical decision support (CDS) in primary care clinics / practices, including defining potential barriers and facilitators to their adoption, and 3) To evaluate the impact of implementation on: patient, provider, and system level outcomes.

Studies Funded by the Demarest Lloyd Jr. Foundation
2018 – 23
1. Development of protocol for treating SUD in young people with Nonverbal Learning Disability/Autism Spectrum Disorder
2. Development of guidelines for treating ADHD in children, adolescents, and young adults with Nonverbal Learning Disability/Autism Spectrum Disorder.
3-5. Treatment of Nonverbal Learning Disability/Autism Spectrum Disorder (3 studies: RCT of Buspirone for Anxiety in Driving Simulation; RCT of Omega 3/N-acetylcysteine for mood dysregulation; RCT of Memantine for Cognitive and Social Inflexibility)
The main aims of these investigations are to develop guidelines or protocols and/or complete randomized controlled trials of children, adolescents, and young adults with Nonverbal Learning Disability and/or Autism Spectrum Disorder.

Multi-modal Neuroimaging in Adolescents and Young Adults with Bipolar Disorder and Substance Use Disorders
Anonymously Funded; 2014 – 20
The main aims of this study, conducted with McLean Hospital neuroimaging (S. Gruber PhD), are to use functional neuroimaging, proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy (1H MRS), and phosphorous magnetic resonance spectroscopic imaging (31P-MRSI) to examine associations between neurochemical/circuitry abnormalities in specific brain regions, and mood and substance use disorders among young people with and without bipolar disorder.

Jonathan P. Winickoff, MD, MPH


Director of Pediatric Research, Tobacco Research and Treatment Center, Massachusetts General Hospital; Professor of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School

JWINICKOFF@mgh.harvard.edu
781-487-4340

Dr. Winickoff’s research focuses on interventions to promote tobacco cessation among family members of children seen in pediatric practice and reduce children’s tobacco smoke exposure. He is the scientific developer of the CEASE intervention, designed to address tobacco control in families by changing clinical pediatric practice. He also studies the impact of tobacco control policies such as raising the tobacco sales age to 21 and adopting smoke-free policies for multiunit housing. He can offer mentorship for scholars working at the individual, institutional, and policy levels on tobacco interventions in pediatric practice and tobacco control policy evaluation. Dr. Winickoff currently mentors two pre-doctoral and two post-doctoral trainees. Dr. Rigotti was his primary research mentor in training and continues to collaborate with him. He also collaborates with Dr. Levy.

Current Grants

Changing Pediatric Office Systems Nationally to Address Parental Tobacco Use
NCI/NHLBI/NICHD R01 CA127127 2012 – 18
The aim of this grant is to transform routine pediatric outpatient practice to assist parents in quitting smoking and thus help eliminate tobacco use in families.

Julius B. Richmond Center of Excellence Award
Flight Attendant Medical Research Institute FAMRI 052032 2016- 21
The goal of this grant-funded award is to help eliminate secondhand smoke exposure of children.