I am a clinical psychologist by training and an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. I am also a Health Service Research Scientist at the Seattle-Denver HSR&D Center of Innovation for Veteran-Centered and Value-Driven Care at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System. My research program broadly focuses on bringing a more holistic approach to healthcare (i.e., mind, body, and spirit) and centers around two interconnected areas of investigation: 1) meaning-making and meaning in life among individuals with chronic pain and psychological distress (in particular, PTSD) and 2) developing and testing mind-body interventions that improve physical and emotional health and well-being. I am particularly interested in improving health for older adults and those in rural settings. My work has been supported by the National Center for Complementary and Integrative Health and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.
Dr. Dahyeon Kang is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. She earned her doctoral degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where her work focused on the etiology of alcohol and substance use disorders through multimodal research methods, including alcohol administration, neuroimaging, transdermal biosensors, and ecological momentary assessments. At the University of Washington’s Department of Psychiatry, Dr. Kang investigates how individual and social factors interact to influence alcohol and cannabis use behaviors.
I am a trained Behavioral Psychologist with a PhD in Health & Human Performance. The main goal of my work is to reduce substance-related harms and improve quality of life for people experiencing problems related to their substance use. I work closely with community members who use drugs to inform my line of research and address key needs identified. My primary appointment is at the Harm Reduction Research and Treatment (HaRRT) Center within the UW School of Medicine and hold an Affiliate Faculty appointment within the School of Public Health. My aim is to adapt, refine, and disseminate harm reduction programs through digital health interventions to empower individuals and ameliorate substance-related harms.
Dr. Charles Engel (he/him) is Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Core VA HSR&D Investigator in the Seattle Center for Innovation, Codirector of the Center’s Advanced Fellowship on Learning Health Systems, and Adjunct Physician Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation. Engel’s work focuses on trauma-informed health systems and strategies for improving the quality of primary care for chronic mental and physical health conditions. His research has covered traumatic injury and post-trauma syndromes ranging from blast injury, mild traumatic brain injury and Gulf War syndrome to PTSD and depression. Engel is experienced at mixed qualitative and quantitative methods and has led large pragmatic randomized trials, program evaluations, and implementation science studies. He has authored or coauthored nearly 200 scholarly papers, including in the New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, and the American Journal of Psychiatry. Funding for his work has come from the National Institutes of Health, Centers for Disease Control, Department of Veterans Affairs, Department of Defense and other organizations. Before joining UW Psychiatry and the AIMS Center in 2021, Dr. Engel was Senior Physician Policy Researcher at the RAND Corporation from 2013 to 2020 and Associate Chair (Research) at Uniformed Services University’s Department of Psychiatry from 2001-2013. Engel has served on the board of directors of the International Society for Traumatic Stress Studies, has testified twice before Congress, received a number of awards, and delivered invited lectures in over 10 countries. He received both his MD and MPH from the University of Washington.
Personal Statement
Dr. Daniel Krashin is an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington working in Psychiatry and Pain Medicine. He works with both inpatient and outpatient pain patients, clinics and hospital staff to collaborate on treatment of patients, but also works on improving systems of care delivery to benefit patients and populations across the continuum of care. Dr. Krashin has extensive experience working with underserved and vulnerable populations including the chronically mentally ill, recent immigrants, and HIV patients in the treatment of both psychiatric illness and chronic pain. He has lectured extensively and authored a number of publications in the areas of pain management, comorbid pain and psychiatric disorders, substance abuse in the setting of pain treatment, and pharmacology of opioids and other pain relieving medications. He works closely with residents and pain fellows and participates in teaching the future generations of psychiatrists, anesthesiologists, and pain providers. He is board certified in both Psychiatry and Pain Medicine.
Personal Statement
Jane Luterek, PhD is a psychologist in the PTSD Outpatient Clinic and the Addictions Treatment Center focused primarily on serving women Veterans at the VA Puget Sound Healthcare System, Seattle Division. She is a Clinical Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington and is licensed in the State of Washington. Dr. Luterek’s research has focused on understanding the psychological sequelae of trauma and mechanisms of change in therapy associated with Alcohol Dependence and PTSD. She has advanced clinical training in the treatment of Veterans with trauma related psychological sequelae (e.g. substance use disorders, PTSD, mood disorders, borderline personality disorder) and draws from a contextual behavioral theoretical background. Dr. Luterek has expertise in Acceptance and Commitment Therapy, Prolonged Exposure, Dialectical Behavior Therapy, and Motivational Interviewing, which heavily inform her clinical practices.
Personal Statement
Dr. Jakupcak studies and treats posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and associated high risk behaviors such as substance abuse and violence. He is also interested in novel treatment approaches to PTSD, including Behavioral Activation (BA) and primary care based treatment models. Dr. Jakupcak is currently funded to study BA and cognitive skills training for returning Veterans with PTSD and mild traumatic brain injury (mTBI).
Personal Statement
My area of expertise is addiction psychiatry.
Personal Statement
My professional interests are in the area of behavioral medicine and health psychology, with particular interests in psychological aspects of chronic pain and illness. I also have a strong interest in psychology training and served as Training Director of the Psychology Internship Program at the UW Dept of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences from 2003-2013. I have also served as Secretary and member of the Executive Board of the American Pain Society.
