Dr. Sandel-Fernandez’s research is focused on predicting impulsive and risk behaviors as they occur in people’s daily lives. She has conducted numerous studies using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) and self-monitoring data from therapy to build person-specific models of symptom dynamics including self-harm, substance use, and suicide attempts.
Dr. Sandel-Fernandez often takes an idiographic (person-specific) analysis approach to answer the question of when in time a person is most at risk for engaging in behaviors they would like to avoid, based on their context, emotions, and personal triggers. Her career goal is to improve treatment outcomes by tailoring evidence-based care to people’s diverse symptom experiences.
My interests focus on understanding etiology of substance use among adolescents and young adults, high risk events and the development of brief intervention and prevention efforts to reduce substance related harm. I have worked for over 20 years conducting research in governmental, private and academic settings to assess needs, assist in policy decisions and design intervention and prevention efforts. I am keenly interested in exploring opportunities to implement evidence-based approaches to enhance policies and practice.
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.
My research focuses on how social influences shape individuals’ health behaviors in both constructive (e.g., physical activity) and risky ways (e.g., alcohol use). I take a translational approach to my research in that I aim to understand how social processes, such as normative influences, relate to behavior so that we can leverage these influences to reduce harm and improve health.
Specific areas of interest include alcohol and other substance use, mental health, and gambling/sports betting. My primary focus is helping young adults during the transition into adulthood.
I have a background in sport psychology, and am passionate about helping athletes navigate the unique stressors involved in high-level sport. In this domain, I serve as a fellow at the U.S. Center for Mental Health and Sport.
Dr. Walukevich-Dienst (hear my name) is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington.
Her research is focused on identifying psychosocial and contextual factors associated with alcohol and cannabis misuse and co-use among young adults, including social influences (e.g., romantic partners, use partnerships), affect management motives, co-occurring mental health concerns, and high-risk substance use events and contexts.
Dr. Walukevich-Dienst aims to leverage this information to develop and test innovative, technology-informed prevention and intervention efforts to disseminate in real world settings.
She also provides psychotherapy to patients at the University of Washington’s Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic and provides supervision and training to psychology graduate students and psychiatry residents in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
Link to Dr. Walukevich-Dienst’s CV.
Dr. Blayney’s research aims to understand the risks for and consequences of sexual victimization. More specifically, this work centers around how social contexts influence sexual victimization risk as well as variation in post-victimization recovery, such as posttraumatic stress disorder, alcohol use, and sexual risk behaviors.
Dr. Hatch is an Associate Professor at the Addictions, Drug & Alcohol Institute (ADAI), Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Sciences, UW School of Medicine. Her research interests are in the development and testing of behavioral and pharmacologic interventions for substance use disorders and HIV prevention. In particular, her work has focused on the intersection of substance use and HIV-related sex and drug risk behaviors from both the consumer and workforce perspectives, and on implementation factors that affect uptake of interventions. She has held multiple and varied roles in research projects since 1994, and has long-standing experience developing, implementing, and overseeing large-scale multi-site clinical trials with community treatment providers. In addition to her work at the University of Washington, Dr. Hatch is a licensed clinical psychologist at UWMC Outpatient Psychiatry Clinic. Her clinical work specializes in the treatment of drug and alcohol addictions and co-occurring depression, anxiety and trauma.
