Presentation title: The Stage Model as a Unifying Framework for Treatment Development in Substance Use Disorder

Kathleen Carroll, Ph.D. is the Albert E. Kent professor of psychiatry at Yale University School of Medicine. Her work focuses on the development, validation, and dissemination of evidence-based treatments for substance use disorders. Dr. Carroll has had 35 years of continuous funding from the National Institutes of Health to support her research, including K05 (senior scientist) and R37 Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) awards. She has served on the board of directors of the Committee of Problems on Drug Dependence, and as the president of the American Psychiatric Association’s Division 50 (addictions). Dr. Carroll also has been editor of multiple journals; she currently serves as field editor for the Journal of Studies and Alcohol and Drugs. Dr. Carroll was principal investigator (PI) of the Center for Behavioral Therapies Development, a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) P50 Center, during its 25 years of funding; she has shared her role as PI with Dr. Roger Weiss of the New England Consortium Node of NIDA’s Clinical Trial Network since 1999. As the author of more than 340 peer-reviewed publications, as well as numerous chapters and books, her major contributions include (1) articulating the stage model of behavioral therapies development; (2) developing behavioral interventions to improve adherence and outcome for pharmacotherapies; and (3) establishing the efficacy, durability, and specificity of computer-assisted training in cognitive behavioral therapy.

Presentation title: From Research to Policy, in Normal and Troubled Times: Evidence from Preventive Health Behavior

Esther Duflo, Ph.D. is the Abdul Latif Jameel professor of poverty alleviation and development economics in the Department of Economics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and a co-founder and co-director of the Abdul Latif Jameel Poverty Action Lab. In her research, Dr. Duflo seeks to understand the economic lives of the poor, with the aim of helping design and evaluate social policies. She has worked on health, education, financial inclusion, environment, and governance. Dr. Duflo’s first degrees were in history and economics from École Normale Supérieure in Paris. She subsequently received a Ph.D. in economics from MIT in 1999. Dr. Duflo has received numerous academic honors and prizes, including the 2019 Sveriges Riksbank Prize in Economic Sciences in Memory of Alfred Nobel (along with co-laureates Drs. Abhijit Banerjee and Michael Kremer), the Princess of Asturias Award for Social Sciences (2015), the A.SK Social Science Award (2015), Infosys Prize (2014), the David N. Kershaw Award (2011), and a John Bates Clark Medal (2010). With Dr. Banerjee, she co-wrote Poor Economics: A Radical Rethinking of the Way to Fight Global Poverty, which won the Financial Times and Goldman Sachs Business Book of the Year Award in 2011 and has been translated into more than 17 languages, and the recently released Good Economics for Hard Times. Dr. Duflo is the editor of the American Economic Review, a member of the National Academy of Sciences, and a corresponding fellow of the British Academy.

Presentation title: Translating the Neurobiology of Addiction for Novel Treatments of Opioid Use Disorder

Yasmin Hurd, Ph.D. is the director of the Addiction Institute within the Mount Sinai Behavioral Health System, as well as the Ward Coleman chair of translational neuroscience and professor of psychiatry and neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. Dr. Hurd is an internationally renowned neuroscientist whose translational research examines the neurobiology of drug abuse and related psychiatric disorders. Her research exploring the neurobiological effects of cannabis and heroin has shaped the field significantly. Using multidisciplinary research approaches, Dr. Hurd’s research has provided unique insights into the impact of developmental cannabis exposure and epigenetic mechanisms underlying the drug’s protracted effects into adulthood and even across generations. Her basic science research is complemented by clinical laboratory investigations evaluating the therapeutic potential of novel science-based strategies for the treatment of opioid addiction and related psychiatric disorders. Because of these high-impact accomplishments and her advocacy of drug addiction education and health, Dr. Hurd was inducted into the National Academy of Medicine, which complements other honors she has received in the field.

Presentation title: Emotional Stress, Immunity, and Metabolism: Close Relationships Matter

Janice Kiecolt-Glaser, Ph.D. is the director of the Ohio State Institute for Behavioral Medicine Research, also holds the titles of distinguished university professor and the Brumbaugh chair in brain research and teaching at the Ohio State College of Medicine. A clinical psychologist who works in the area of psychoneuroimmunology, she has published more than 250 articles, chapters, and books, with a Google Scholar Hirsch index of 120. Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser’s studies have demonstrated important health consequences of stress, including slower wound healing and impaired vaccine responses. She also has shown that chronic stress substantially accelerates inflammation, which has been linked to many age-related diseases. Furthermore, her programmatic work has focused on how close personal relationships influence immune and endocrine functions and health. Her recent work has shown that stress and depression dysregulate energy metabolism following high-fat meals, thus promoting weight gain. Most notable among Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser’s honors is her elected membership in the National Academy of Medicine. She also has received the American Psychological Association’s Award for scientific contributions to psychology, the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and the American Psychosomatic Society’s Distinguished Scientist Award for career contributions. As a fellow in the American Association for the Advancement of Science, she has served on the editorial boards of 11 journals. Dr. Kiecolt-Glaser’s research has been supported by a series of National Institutes of Health grants, including a Method to Extend Research in Time (MERIT) award.

Presentation title: Race, Health, and the Politics of Skin Color

Rick Kittles, Ph.D. is a professor and founding director of the Division of Health Equities within the Department of Population Sciences at the City of Hope (COH) and also associate director of health equities of the COH Comprehensive Cancer Center. He is well known for his research on prostate cancer and health disparities among African Americans. Dr. Kittles’ research has focused on understanding the complex issues surrounding race, genetic ancestry, and health disparities. He received a Ph.D. in biological sciences from The George Washington University in 1998. Dr. Kittles’ first faculty appointment was at Howard University, where he helped to establish its National Human Genome Center. Over the last 20 years, Dr. Kittles has been at the forefront of the development of genetic markers for ancestry and how genetic ancestry can be used in genetic studies on disease risk and outcomes. His work has shown the impact of genetic variation across populations in pharmacogenomics, biomarker discovery, and disease gene mapping. Dr. Kittles has projects funded by the National Institutes of Health to study genetic and environmental modifiers of serum 25-hydroxyvitamin D [25(OH)D] levels to improve our understanding of the role serum vitamin D plays in health disparities. He is leading a multisite collaboration studying modifiers of serum 25(OH)D levels and their role on prostate cancer susceptibility. In 2010, Dr. Kittles was recognized in Ebony magazine’s “The Ebony Power 100.” Ebony selected the nation’s top 100 African American “power players” in sports, academia, religion, business, environment, science and technology, entertainment, arts and letters, fashion, politics, media, activism, and health. In March 2012, Dr. Kittles presented the keynote address to the United Nations General Assembly International Day of Remembrance of Victims of Slavery and the Transatlantic Slave Trade. Recently, Dr. Kittles was named as one of “50 Iconic Black Trailblazers Who Represent Every State in America” by The Huffington Post. Dr. Kittles has published more than 200 research articles on prostate cancer genetics, race and genetics, and health disparities.

Presentation title: Making Digital Mental Health Work in the Real World

David Mohr, Ph.D. is trained as a psychologist and is the professor of preventive medicine at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, with appointments in the Departments of Psychiatry and Medical Social Sciences. He also is the director of Northwestern University’s Center for Behavioral Intervention Technologies (www.cbits.northwestern.edu). Dr. Mohr’s work lies at the intersection of behavioral science, technology, and clinical research, with a focus on the design and implementation of interventions that harness digital technologies to promote mental health and wellness. Basic research explores the use of data from smartphone and wearable sensors to identify behavioral and psychological targets that can be used for intervention. Intervention research seeks to design and evaluate novel methods of using digital technologies that can support both patients and providers. Services research uses design and clinical science methods to build and evaluate technology-enabled services for mental health that can be implemented sustainably in real-world care settings. Dr. Mohr also leads a postdoctoral training program that co-trains fellows in both clinical science and human computer interaction to establish the next generation of researchers who can work across disciplines. His research has been funded consistently for more than 25 years by the National Institutes of Health, numerous other federal agencies, and foundations, resulting in more than 240 peer-reviewed publications and more than 25 book chapters.

Presentation title: “Poking and Prying with a Purpose”: Community-engaged Research to Achieve Health Equity

Nancy Schoenberg, Ph.D. holds several positions at the University of Kentucky (UK), including the Marion Pearsall professor of behavioral science at the College of Medicine; founding director of the Center for Health Equity Transformation; associate vice president for research on health disparities; and associate director of the UK Center for Clinical and Translational Research. A medical anthropologist, Dr. Schoenberg’s research aims to achieve health equity among underserved populations, specifically focusing on social, cultural, and contextual determinants of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, respiratory disease, and cancer among rural residents. She and her community partners culturally adapt, implement, and evaluate community-engaged, randomized controlled interventions, mainly in the Appalachian context. Dr. Schoenberg developed the Faith Moves Mountains community-based research organization, which engages faith-based organizations; senior centers; community centers; and local government, educational, and commercial sectors to develop culturally appropriate interventions. Dr. Schoenberg also takes joy in mentoring junior colleagues, providing consultation on cultural adaptation of evidence-based interventions, and building programs to enhance an inclusive research workforce.