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Current Fellows of the Training Program

Since its inception in 1987, 110 fellows have completed one or more years of post-doctoral training in our program.

 

2009

Uraina Clark received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Boston University in 2007. Her broader research interests include understanding the behavioral and functional consequences of frontal-subcortical disruption. Her current work utilizes neuroimaging techniques to examine the brain effects of alcohol use in individuals with HIV. This work builds upon her previous studies, some of which are ongoing, including investigations of neural and neuropsychological abnormalities associated with conditions that affect frontal and/or subcortical systems such as stress, alcoholism, Parkinson's disease, aging, and HIV.

Jessica Nargiso received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rhode Island in 2009. Her primary research interests are in examining the efficacy of multilevel substance abuse prevention and early interventions for adolescents, with a focus on family and community-based approaches. Additionally, Jessica has examined gender differences in risk for early initiation of alcohol use in adolescents. During her postdoctoral training, Jessica has focused on adapting preventive interventions to address tobacco-related health disparities among low-income communities. Currently, she is writing a grant to examine effective tobacco prevention approaches for low-income families living in public housing.

2010

Caitlin Abar received her Ph.D. in Human Development and Family Studies with a focus on Substance Use Prevention and Research Methodology from The Pennsylvania State University in 2010. Her primary research interests lie in the developmental periods of adolescence and the transition to adulthood and, broadly, comprise the etiology and prevention of health risk behaviors, including alcohol and other substance use. More specifically, her interests focus on the application of latent variable modeling to the examination of the relationship between parenting and young adult substance use. During her postdoctoral position, Caitlin intends to explore the measurement characteristics of influential parenting behaviors, as well as the relationship between longitudinal trends in parenting and the developmental course of substance use across subgroups of adolescents and young adults using growth curve analysis. The ultimate purpose of this work is to inform ongoing and future family based substance use prevention programs.

L. Cinnamon Bidwell received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology and Behavioral Genetics from the University of Colorado at Boulder. Her research broadly focuses on understanding the development and maintenance of mental disorders across the lifespan and investigates the links between genetic vulnerabilities, neuropsychological weaknesses and neurocognitive abnormalities, and a variety of psychiatric conditions, such as attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, learning disabilities, schizophrenia, and substance use. Cinnamon hopes to build upon her prior research while at the Center by conducting research on the genetic and neurobiological mechanisms underlying the high rates of comorbidity between substance use and psychiatric difficulties.

Jordan Braciszewski received his Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, with specializations in Community Psychology and Quantitative Methods, from Wayne State University (Detroit, MI) in 2010. His research broadly focuses on underserved populations, program evaluation, and social policy change. He is particularly interested in the prevention of substance use and chronic homelessness, using both community-based efforts and clinically-informed interventions. He studies factors at several ecological levels of analysis that contribute to positive individual mental health, substance use, and psychological well-being outcomes. Given his background in criminal justice, Jordan is also interested in the crossover of the corrections and addiction/mental health fields. Clinically- and economically-efficacious alternatives to adjudication that also prevent future negative outcomes (e.g., continued substance use, homelessness, and recidivism) are included in Jordan's research agenda. These efforts all fall within his passion for and dedication to increasing access to effective services for underprivileged populations.

Ashlee Carter received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida in Tampa, FL in 2010. Her program of research has focused on the convergence of alcohol expectancies, psychophysiological reactivity to affective picture cues, and risk for substance use disorders. Additionally, she has examined psychosocial factors that impact drinking trajectories among college students and their non-college peers. As a postdoctoral fellow, Ashlee plans expand her program of research to clinical and pharmacological interventions for substance use disorders, investigating the impact of biopsychosocial factors on treatment outcomes.

Elise Clerkin received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia in 2010. Her background is in the research and treatment of anxiety-based disorders, with an emphasis on evaluating cognitive models of anxiety and the relatively automatic processing of threatening information. At CAAS, Elise hopes to synthesize her interest in anxiety with a new focus on adult alcohol use in order to a) evaluate mechanisms of change in symptom reduction; and b) develop brief, experimental interventions for comorbid anxiety and substance use.

Anthony Comeau received his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Brown University in 2009. His primary research focuses on small molecule development for the purpose of enzyme inhibition and development to the design and use of new pharmacotherapy for the cocaine use disorder.

Golfo Tzilos received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Wayne State University in 2010. Her primary research and clinical interests are in the area of substance abuse treatment, with a focus in brief motivational interventions. Her previous work has examined the feasibility and efficacy of a brief, computer-based motivational intervention for alcohol use during pregnancy. Currently, she is interested in adapting and implementing a computer-delivered approach to identify and treat women that are at risk for both alcohol use and intimate partner violence during pregnancy.