Scholarly Expertise: Addiction psychiatry/psychology

Bryan Hartzler

In two decades at UW, Dr. Hartzler’s principal focus has been on the dissemination and implementation of empirically-supported health services for persons with substance use disorders. To date, this includes local, regional, national, and international collaborations, encompassing federally-funded work with diverse community-based settings (i.e., addiction care, mental health, primary and specialty medical care, criminal justice, HIV care, schools, faith-based organizations), including those affiliated with the NIDA Clinical Trials Network.  As director of the UW Center for Advancing Addiction Health Services (CAAHS), he oversees a broad portfolio, including:  1) the SAMHSA-funded Northwest Addiction Technology Transfer Center (Northwest ATTC), which provides universal, targeted, and intensive technical assistance to the addiction workforce in Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington 2) regional contribution to SAMHSA’s national Opioid Response Network (ORN), 3) a host of externally-sponsored implementation projects with single-state authorities as well as other organizations, and 4) contribution to NIH-funded and intramural health services research.  In professional endeavors that span a science-to-service continuum, Dr. Hartzler seeks to promote adoption and implementation of useful treatment and recovery practices in community settings where they may benefit persons with substance use disorders.

Beatriz Carlini

I am a Research Associate Professor at the Psychiatry Department,  Addiction, Drug & Alcohol Institute where I direct the Cannabis Education and Research Program, a team (CERP) that systematically interacts with state and county agencies and community coalitions, with the purpose of supporting the adoption of evidence-base policies and interventions. I have published extensively in peer-reviewed journals, secured research funds both as Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator, and have collaborated with colleagues from various U.S. universities and abroad. Besides cannabis, I have interest and research experience in tobacco control.

A little bit about my trajectory: I obtained my PhD in Social Psychology in my home country, Brazil. As a faculty in the University of Sao Paulo Preventive Medicine Department, my professional life was dedicated to research and service disparate populations, such as street kids and substance-using youth. As an academic of a developing nation, I had the honor to collaborate internationally and serve in various World Health Organization working groups and committees.

After moving to the United States in 2000, I obtained a Master of Public Health at UW, with an emphasis in Social and Behavioral Sciences. This second degree provided me with the skills and the contextual perspective to successfully transition my professional focus from health care disparities in developing nations to the inequities experienced by historically marginalized communities living in the richest and most powerful country on Earth, the U.S. As a dual citizen, I consider inequity, racism, discrimination and stigma as important determinants of addiction and substance use in an increased globalized world.

I prefer the pronouns she, her, hers.

Nadejda Bespalova

I am a perinatal and addiction psychiatrist and Acting Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. My main area of interest and expertise is substance use disorders in the perinatal period as well as women’s mental health more generally. I am also passionate about doing my part to address inequities in healthcare.

Richard Ries

Personal Statement

I am a Professor of Psychiatry and Director of the Addictions Division in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the University of Washington  School of Medicine in Seattle, Washington. I am also the clinical director of  addictions treatment services at Harborview Medical Center, and work in the psychiatric rehabilitation and recovery services.

I am board-certified in Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology with Added Qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry, and the American Board of Addiction Medicine. A Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association and a Fellow of the American Society of Addiction Medicine, I am on the editorial board and a reviewer for several scientific journals and holds a number of research grants from the National Institute of Health.

Emily Dworkin

Personal Statement

Dr. Dworkin’s research (1) explores how the social, community, and societal contexts in which trauma survivors recover affect their well-being and (2) seeks to find ways to make changes to these contexts to improve outcomes following trauma.

Christine Lee

Personal Statement

The transition to adulthood is the developmental period when alcohol use, marijuana use, and their associated consequences reach their lifetime peak. My scholarly interests focus on the etiology and prevention of substance use behaviors and consequences during adolescence and young/early adulthood. I have developed a highly successful portfolio of work bridging developmental, social, and motivational theory with applied prevention and intervention techniques to strategically address high-risk behaviors during the transition to adulthood. My research addresses important questions regarding how recent marijuana legislation in Washington State impacts young adult marijuana use and consequences; what motivates young adults to engage in alcohol and marijuana use; how alcohol expectancies, alcohol use and consequences are linked in a natural feed-forward process that maintains high-risk behaviors; how developmental transitions and event timing influence use; and what are efficacious prevention and intervention strategies and for whom and under what conditions are these most effective.

Michael McDonell

Personal Statement

My primary interest is on determining how behavioral technologies can be used to improve alcohol and drug abuse outcomes for those suffering from addiction health disparities. Behavioral technologies are non-talk therapy approaches to addiction treatment, such as motivational incentives where we provide rewards for people who abstain from or reduce their drinking. This low-cost, strength based approach to addiction can be implemented in low-resources settings by non clinicians. In fact, our group is investigating how smartphones might be used to implement this treatment, allowing us to reach the millions of individuals suffering from alcohol problems worldwide.  

My second research interest in evaluating the accuracy of alcohol biomarkers in addiction treatment settings. These include alcohol urine tests, such as ethyl glucuronide (EtG) and mobile phone linked Bluetooth breathalyzers. These tools allow us to accurately assess  the success of alcohol treatments, as well as provide valuable research tools.      

Importantly all of my research studies are conducted in collaboration with two communities that suffer disproportionately high rates of alcohol and drug misuse, 1) adults with severe mental illnesses, like schizophrenia and bipolar disorder and 2) American Indians and Alaska Natives. My research team and I work closely with community partners who are providing addiction treatment to these populations with the goal of reducing the burden of alcohol and drug use in these communities. 

Jane Luterek

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.

Kevin Hallgren

Personal Statement

I am a clinical psychologist with research interests in the treatment of alcohol and substance use disorders and co-occurring mental health conditions. My research focuses on understanding how to improve access to evidence-based treatments and understanding why and how patients benefit from treatment. I am particularly interested in research measurement-based care — i.e., the use of standardized measures to monitor treatment progress and inform clinical decision-making. Broad areas of interest include:
  • Alcohol and drug use disorder treatment, including the effectiveness of digital and behavioral interventions, mechanisms of behavioral change, and social and environmental determinants of change.
  • Technology to support behavioral change, including patient- and clinician-facing tools that support clinical decision-making, treatment adherence, and treatment progress monitoring.
  • Applied statistical analysis, including methods for analyzing longitudinal data, clinical trials data, multilevel data, missing data, psychometric analysis, and data visualization.