About Our Team.

A group of established researchers working together to shape the field of comorbid PTSD/AOD treatments.

Over 20 years of work.

This team of researchers have been working together for two decades, and are passionate about bringing this project to fruition. The team believes strongly in the possibility of this study to provide powerful answers for a variety of vulnerable populations

Our Institutions.

Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University
The City College of New York ​
Medical University of South Carolina 
RTI International 

Investigative Team

Denise Hien, Ph.D., ABPP
Principal Investigator

Denise Hien, PhD, ABPP, is the Director of the Center of Alcohol Studies, and Professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. She also maintains longstanding adjunct appointments as Senior Research Scientist at Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons, Division on Substance Use Disorders and Adjunct Professor at the Graduate Center, Doctoral Psychology Program at the City University of New York. She and her group have conducted programmatic research on women’s mental health and addictions, with continuous funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse and National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse (19 grants total: 6 R01, 1 multi-site) for over 20 years. Considered a leader in the field, her body of work has contributed to the evidence base on the treatment of women with trauma-related psychiatric disorders and their comorbidity with addictions, through conducting single- and multi-site clinical trials across the United States in community-based substance abuse treatment settings. She currently leads a NIDA R25 training grant for translational addiction research for racial/ethnic minority BS/MD, MA and PhD candidates in the biomedical and social sciences. She is board-certified in clinical psychology and has served as a standing member on NIDA’s NIH Institutional Review Groups and a health disparities advisory group to the Director on Asian/Pacific Islander issues. 
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Antonio Morgan-Lopez, Ph.D.
​Principal Investigator

Dr. Antonio A. Morgan-Lopez is MPI of Project Harmony and holds the position of Fellow in Quantitative Psychology in the Substance Use Prevention and Evaluation Research (SUPER) program within RTI’s Behavioral Health Research Division. His work centers around the development and application of advanced quantitative methodologies predominantly in the context of randomized and non-randomized behavioral health interventions. He has also served as PI on four NIDA and NIAAA grants, funded since 2006, that center around advances in quantitative methodology within PTSD/AOD treatment. His more recent methodological interests center around psychometric issues in measuring PTSD under item response theory and non-linear factor analysis, propensity score weighting for mediation and moderation and generalized non-linear mixed modeling with random treatment effects. 
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Sudie Back, Ph.D.
​​​Co-Investigator

Dr. Back is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She is also a staff psychologist at the Ralph H. Johnson VA in Charleston, SC. Dr. Back received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Georgia, completed her clinical internship at Yale University School of Medicine, and completed her postdoctoral fellowship at MUSC. Her research focuses primarily on the treatment of substance use disorders and comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). Dr. Back’s work includes clinical trials, human laboratory paradigms, and neuroimaging studies. She is also Director of the NIH-sponsored Drug Abuse Research Training (DART) program at MUSC which provides research training for psychiatry residents, medical students, undergraduate and graduate students. Dr. Back provides clinical care at MUSC and the VA, and she is actively involved in mentoring the next generation of clinical scientists.   
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Therese Killeen, Ph.D., APRN-BC
​Co-Investigator

Dr. Therese Killeen is a research professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at MUSC. Dr. Killeen's research interests are in the area of effective treatment approaches for substance use disorders (SUD) and comorbidity, with a particular expertise in PTSD and SUD comorbidity. She has lead several large NIDA Clinical Trial Network studies exploring psychosocial therapies in the treatment of substance use and comorbid disorders. She is an expert in motivational interviewing, cognitive behavior therapy, contingency management,  integrated SUD and PTSD treatment interventions and more recently she is involved in research exploring the effectiveness of  mindfulness based relapse prevention in improving substance use and PTSD outcomes. Bridging the gap between research and clinical practice, she has worked with front line community treatment programs and clinicians to adopt evidence based treatments. She has mentored numerous clinicians both within MUSC and in community practice using evidence based supervision. ​

​Teresa López-Castro, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator

Teresa López-Castro is a licensed clinical psychologist and assistant professor in the Psychology Department of The City College of New York (CCNY). Dr. Lopez-Castro is interested in the mechanisms which connect traumatic stress to substance misuse and the advancement of integrative care for addiction and mental health issues. She is the principal investigator of the Translational Research on Emotions, Addictions, and Trauma (TREAT) laboratory at CCNY. The TREAT lab incorporates affective and social cognitive neuroscience to the investigation of how effective treatments for trauma and addictions create lasting change. Dr. Lopez-Castro is currently researching social cognition’s role in traumatic stress and addiction, and how meditation may foster resilience and recovery. Another line of her research involves employing statistical innovations to illuminate the diverse ways people change and recover from addiction. She has published and presented internationally on advancing the field of addiction and trauma treatment research through novel methodologies and therapeutic targets.   ​​​

Sonya Norman, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator

Dr. Norman is Director of the PTSD Consultation Program for the National Center for PTSD and a Professor of Psychiatry at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine. She is a researcher in the treatment of PTSD and substance use disorders, implementation of evidence based treatments for PTSD, and understanding and treating post traumatic guilt and shame. Her grants are funded by NIH, Department of Defense, and Department of Veterans Affairs. She has over 100 publications related to PTSD and associated problems. Dr. Norman recently served as a member of the VA/DoD PTSD Clinical Practice Guideline workgroup. She previously directed the PTSD treatment program for Veterans who served in Iraq and Afghanistan at the San Diego VA. She received her PhD from Stanford University. 

Lesia Ruglass, Ph.D.
​​Co-Investigator

Dr. Lesia Ruglass is a Licensed Clinical Psychologist and an Associate Professor in the Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology (GSAPP) at Rutgers University, where she also serves as Assistant Director of the Center of Alcohol Studies. Prior to joining Rutgers, she worked as Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at the City College of New York where she directed the NYS certified CASAC program. Her research interests center on: 1) testing the efficacy and effectiveness of integrated psychological interventions for co-occurring trauma/PTSD, and substance use disorders (SUDs); 2) understanding the biopsychosocial mechanisms underlying SUDs (particularly cannabis and tobacco use disorders); and 3) understanding and reducing health disparities in mental health, SUD, and treatment outcomes.  Dr. Ruglass has received awards and grants from the National Institutes on Health and the City College City SEEDS program.  She has published multiple peer-reviewed articles and presented her work nationally and internationally. 
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Lissette Saavedra, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator

Lissette Saavedra, PhD, is a research psychologist at RTI International. Dr. Saavedra has worked on evaluation of efficacy and effectiveness clinical trials funded by the National Institute of Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Mental Health, and Center for Disease Control and Prevention. She has published several empirical and conceptual articles related to assessment, diagnostic issues in the area of comorbidity, classification of psychopathology, short and long-term treatment outcomes of cognitive behavioral approaches for childhood anxiety disorders. Most recently her work has focused on treatment of post-traumatic stress disorder and substance use disorders. She has expertise in evidence-based methods in the treatment and assessment of childhood anxiety and related psychiatric disorders. She brings experience with systematic reviews via her work with AHRQ, specifically in treatments for ADHD among preschoolers and first- and second-generation antipsychotic medications in pediatric populations. Dr. Saavedra’s quantitative methods experience centers evaluation of RCTs and more specifically using around finite mixture models, mediation analysis, integrative data analysis and propensity scoring.  Other methodological interests include clinical decision-making, including use of Bayesian approaches to identify cases for different levels of intervention. 
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Skye Fitzpatrick, Ph.D.
Co-Investigator

Dr. Skye Fitzpatrick is a trauma and addictions postdoctoral fellow in the Center of Alcohol Studies at Rutgers University. She completed her B.A. at Dalhousie University in Halifax, her M.A. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Ryerson University in Toronto, and her predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at the University of Washington Medical Center in Seattle. Dr. Fitzpatrick’s area of expertise is in the nature and treatment of borderline personality disorder (BPD) and suicide, with a specific focus on dialectical behavior therapy (DBT). She has recently expanded her focus to jointly study the nature and treatment of key BPD- and suicide-adjacent conditions, namely posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and substance use disorders. At the Center of Alcohol Studies, Dr. Fitzpatrick is interested in examining emotion regulation and dysregulation processes in the treatment of these disorders, and identifying ways to streamline and refine concurrent treatments for suicidal individuals with PTSD and substance use disorders.

Chantel Ebrahimi
Research Coordinator

Chantel Ebrahimi completed her BS in Psychobiology at UCLA in 2015. After graduating from UCLA, she worked on the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development (ABCD) study as the lead research assistant and recruitment coordinator. There, she developed an interest to study the impact of community trauma and substance use on urban youth and young adults. She is completing her MA in Psychology at The New School. Her research interests include: community mental health, addiction. historical trauma, and psychotherapy interventions. Her master’s thesis examines the impact of historical trauma on psychological well-being among young adults.

Scientific Advisory Board

Debra Kaysen, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board

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Mark McGovern, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Mark McGovern is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences and, by courtesy, the Department of Medicine at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is the Co-Chief of the Division of Public Mental Health and Population Sciences in the Department of Psychiatry, and Medical Director of Integrated Behavioral Health in the Division of Primary Care and Population Health in the Department of Medicine. 
His primary research focus is implementation science, with a specific emphasis on integrated behavioral health services for persons with co-occurring substance use and psychiatric disorders, as they present in both primary care and specialty settings. Dr. McGovern has received a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) career development award and NIDA and National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) grant funding to translate evidence-based therapies for complex patients into routine clinical settings. He has also received awards from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the US Department of Health & Human Services’ Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to advance a series of organizational measures of integrated service capacity. These measures, the Dual Diagnosis Capability in Addiction Treatment (DDCAT), Dual Diagnosis Capability in Mental Health Treatment (DDCMHT) and Behavioral Health Integration in Medical Care (BHIMC), have been widely adopted and are being used to implement evidence-based treatments in community settings and systems throughout the United States and globally.

Katherine Mills, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board

​Katherine Mills is an Associate Professor, NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, and Director of Early Intervention and Treatment Research for The Matilda Centre for Research in Mental Health and Substance Use, University of Sydney, Australia. Her research focuses on the epidemiology and treatment of co-occurring mental health and substance use disorders, in particular, post traumatic stress disorder. A/Prof Mills has published widely in the area and has been an investigator on numerous grants. She has received a number of awards for excellence in science and research, and in recognition of the impact of her work on the community.

Ismene Petrakis, Ph.D.
Scientific Advisory Board

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Scholars

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Alexandria Bauer, Ph.D.
Dr. Bauer received her BA in Psychology from San Diego State University in 2013, and she earned both her master’s degree and Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Missouri-Kansas City. She completed her predoctoral clinical internship at the Charleston Consortium in Charleston, SC, where she trained in rotations focused on trauma and cognitive-behavioral interventions. Dr. Bauer’s research interests include understanding and addressing health disparities that burden Black/African American and other racial/ethnic minority populations, particularly using community-based participatory research strategies.  
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Delisa Brown, Ph.D.
Dr. Brown is a Post- Doctoral Scholar in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). Dr. Brown received her Ph.D. in counseling psychology from Howard University, and completed her clinical internship and postdoctoral fellowship at MUSC under the mentorship of Dr. Sudie Back. Her research focuses primarily on the treatment of substance use disorders and comorbid posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), namely race-based trauma. Dr. Brown is interested in developing culturally adapted evidence-based treatments to better serve the African American community and promoting the awareness of the debilitating effects of racial stressors such as discrimination and other forms of oppression; and advocating for its inclusions as a criterion A event for a PTSD diagnosis.
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Amber Jarnecke, Ph.D.
Dr. Amber Jarnecke is a licensed clinical psychologist and Research Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC). She received her B.A., M.S., and Ph.D. from Purdue University. She completed her predoctoral clinical psychology internship and NIAAA-funded postdoctoral fellowship at MUSC. Dr. Jarnecke's research focuses on the intersection of substance use disorders, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and interpersonal violence. She collaborates with interdisciplinary teams to identify novel treatment targets and study mechanisms of treatment response for individuals with substance use disorders and PTSD. She is currently funded by an NIAAA Career Development Award (K23) to examine how the neurobehavioral reactivity of individuals with co-occurring alcohol use disorder and PTSD differs from that of individuals with either disorder alone.
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Alexander Kline, Ph.D.
Alexander Kline, Ph.D., is a postdoctoral fellow in the Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Addiction Treatment at the VA San Diego Healthcare System. His primary fellowship mentor is Sonya Norman, Ph.D. Dr. Kline earned his doctorate in clinical psychology from Case Western Reserve University and completed his predoctoral internship at the VA San Diego Healthcare System/UCSD Psychology Internship Training Program. His research interests center around evidence-based interventions for PTSD and related comorbidities such as substance use, with emphasis on improving the effectiveness and reach of these treatments. Dr. Kline’s research has examined processes and predictors linked to intervention outcomes, particularly treatment response and dropout.
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Matthew Luciano, Ph.D.
Matthew Luciano, PhD, is a postdoctoral fellow at the San Diego State University working in the NIAAA T32 Fellowship Program. He completed his doctorate in clinical psychology at The University of Memphis where he studied brief interventions for veterans with PTSD and hazardous patterns of drinking. As a NIAAA fellow, Matt is developing two related programs of research. First, he is interested in the etiology of PTSD and AUD with a special focus on understanding the role that environmental reinforcement has on that relationship. Second, Matt is interested in developing and testing integrated treatments for comorbid PTSD and AUD with the hope that these integrated approaches can provide better outcomes for those with dual diagnoses. His fellowship mentor is Dr. Sonya Norman.
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Robert Lyons, MS.
Robert Lyons, MS, is a fifth year doctoral student in the San Diego State University/UC San
Diego joint doctoral program in clinical psychology mentored by Sonya Norman, PhD. His
research interests broadly focus on improving treatments for individuals with co-occurring PTSD
and substance use disorders, with specific interests in evaluating mechanisms by which
integrated interventions work, and examining quality of life and functioning outcomes in the
context of integrated treatments.
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Kaitlyn Panza, Ph.D.
Kaitlyn Panza, Ph.D. is a postdoctoral fellow on the Interprofessional Advanced Fellowship in Addiction Treatment at the VA San Diego Healthcare System (VASDHS). Her primary mentor is Sonya Norman, Ph.D. Dr. Panza earned her doctorate in clinical psychology from Arizona State University and completed her predoctoral internship at the VASDHS/UCSD Psychology Internship Training Program. Broadly, her research interests focus on developing and evaluating concurrent treatments for PTSD and SUD. Additionally, her research involves studying developmental antecedents and course of PTSD and SUD and exploring how interpersonal relationships and exposure to trauma contribute to the development and maintenance of these disorders. Her dissertation research, funded by NIDA, examined trajectories of substance use (tobacco, marijuana, alcohol) and high-risk sexual behavior throughout young adulthood, and subsequently investigated the effects of early trauma, and peer and family factors, on the trajectories of these behaviors.
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Sheila V. Patel, Ph.D.
Sheila V. Patel, PhD, is an Implementation Scientist in the Community Health and Implementation Research Program in the Behavioral Health Research Division at RTI International. She completed her doctoral training in health services research with a concentration in implementation science in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s Gillings School of Global Public Health. Broadly, Dr. Patel’s research focuses on the evaluation and implementation of health interventions and policies in a variety of contexts. Through this work, Dr. Patel has gained expertise in psychometric assessment, systematic review methods, and mixed-methods data collection and analysis. Her topical expertise includes mental and behavioral health and vulnerable populations such as youth and young adults.
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Tanya Saraiya, Ph.D.
Tanya Saraiya, Ph.D., is a NIDA T32 postdoctoral fellow in the Addiction Sciences Division in the Department of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina where she has the pleasure to work with Dr. Sudie Back. She graduated with her doctorate in clinical psychology from Adelphi University in 2020 under the incredible mentorship of Dr. Denise Hien. In graduate school, she also had the opportunity to be an R25 fellow in the TRACC program. Tanya is interested in refining and extending trauma and addiction treatments to meet the needs of diverse patients with complex presentations. When she's not working, you can find her outside, practicing yoga, or chilling with friends & family. 
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Alina Shevorykin, Ph.D., LMHC
​Alina Shevorykin, PhD, LMHC is a post-doctorate associate in the Research on Addictive Disorders (ROAD) lab at the City College of New York, as well as Senior Program Coordinator at the Translational Research Training in Addictions for Racial/Ethnic Minorities At The City College of New York, Columbia University Medical Center and Rutgers University (TRACC-RU) program, and a Licensed Mental Health Counselor specializing in trauma and couples counseling.
Her primary areas of research include the link between trauma exposure and substance use (especially cannabis use and tobacco dependence), cognitive impairments in cannabis users, and racial/gender health disparities, as well as the development of effective prevention strategies and mental health treatments.
NIAAA-funded R01​ (MPIs: Hien & Morgan-Lopez): 1 R01 AA025853