Current Projects
School-Based SBIRT: Implementation with School-Based Mental Health Personnel
Adolescent substance use is a national health concern with limited school-based interventions to provide treatment. Dissemination of evidence-based interventions, such as SBIRT, is critical in preventing negative outcomes such as school dropout, suicide, juvenile justice involvement, and high costs associated with adolescent substance use. There are significant barriers to receiving treatment including not knowing where to go for help, transportation, and service costs. Research on interventions to reduce substance use is sparse and important questions regarding the provision of SBIRT in schools by school-based mental health professionals remains unanswered. This project seeks to accomplish the following: 1) develop an adapted standardized SBIRT training and delivery protocol for school-based mental health professionals, and 2) conduct a feasibility study of the adapted SBIRT process. This project is funded by a NIDA R25 grant received by the University of California, San Francisco through the Learning for Early Careers in Addiction and Diversity Program.

Statewide Child Monitoring System: Coordinating Community Mental Health and Substance Use Interventions
This project seeks to develop a statewide child monitoring system that assists in coordinating community mental health and substance use interventions for adolescents. This project is supported by the Yale Innovation to Impact program funded by a NIDA R25 grant received by Yale University.

Completed Projects
Barriers and Facilitators to School-Based Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT)
This project, funded by the University of Kentucky Center for Clinical and Translational Science and the National Institute on Drug Abuse focused on identifying the facilitators and barriers to school-based SBIRT. Using qualitative methods, focus groups and interviews were conducted with school and community mental health stakeholders to gather their perspectives on school-based SBIRT. This implementation science study sets the stage for additional research examining SBIRT implementation in schools.


Mindfulness as an Intervention for Substance Users with High Levels of Negative Urgency
This project funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse examined the effectiveness of targeted interventions for emerging adult drug abuse. Different profiles of impulsiveness are related to different profiles of drug abuse. The present study examined targeted interventions for a specific trait of impulsivity: negative urgency. Specifically, negative urgency has been found to respond well to mindfulness interventions. The research sought to examine if a mindfulness intervention would be more effective than psychoeducation for those with high levels of negative urgency.