Faculty

To search Brown's comprehensive faculty directory by research area, please visit [email protected].

Primary Appointments

  • Madina Agénor

    Madina Agénor

    Assistant Professor

    Sexual and reproductive health equity and justice; cancer screening and prevention among marginalized groups; LGBTQ+ health; structural and social determinants of health; intersectionality and health equity

  • Jasjit Ahluwalia

    Jasjit Ahluwalia

    Professor

    Minority health & health disparities; nicotine addiction & smoking cessation (pharmacotherapy & behavioral interventions) in African Americans; mentoring & career development

  • Karen Andes

    Karen Andes

    Associate Professor

    Pediatric oncology, emergency preparedness, COVID vaccine hesitancy, HIV/AIDS, and menstrual hygiene management, among others.

  • Tayla von Ash

    Tayla von Ash

    Assistant Professor

    Early childhood obesity prevention; sleep; racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities; global health; mixed methods approaches

  • Elizabeth_Aston

    Elizabeth Aston

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Behavioral and pharmacological effects of marijuana; co-use of marijuana and alcohol; behavioral economics of substance use

  • Nancy Barnett

    Nancy Barnett

    Professor; Senior Advisor to the Dean for Faculty Affairs

    Brief alcohol interventions; naturalistic change in problematic alcohol use; alcohol biosensor technology research; computer-based assessment & intervention; adolescent & young adult populations

  • Tanya Benitez

    Tanya Benitez

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Physical activity promotion in Latinos; health disparities; culturally and linguistically appropriate behavior change interventions

  • Katie_Biello

    Katie Biello

    Associate Professor; Department Vice Chair

    HIV/STI prevention in marginalized populations, both domestically and internationally; social and sexual network analysis; social and behavioral determinants of health; racial/ethnic, gender, and sexual minority health inequities

  • Lauren Bohlen

    Lauren Connell Bohlen

    Assistant Professor

     Physical activity and exercise promotion, technology-based interventions, community-based interventions, dissemination and implementation, advancing the science of behavior change theory 

  • Judson Brewer

    Judson Brewer

    Associate Professor

    Habit formation and behavior change science; bringing together theory, basic and translational neuroscience with the development of consumer and clinical training tools to improve health

  • Kate Carey

    Kate Carey

    Professor; Doctoral Program Director

    Screening and brief interventions for at-risk drinkers; understanding mediators and moderators of intervention effects; social influences (e.g., perceived norms) on drinking behavior; assessing and enhancing motivation to change; alcohol’s effects on HIV risk behaviors

  • Rachel Cassidy

    Rachel Cassidy

    Associate Professor (Research)

    Tobacco regulatory research; Adolescent smoking; e-cigarette use behaviors; smoking cessation; behavioral economics.

  • Mark A. Celio

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Uses qualitative and experimental methodology to better understand alcohol influences on sexual decision making.

  • patricia_cioe

    Patricia Cioe

    Associate Professor

    HIV; smoking cessation; health promotion; cardiovascular risk; behavior change.

  • suzanne_colby

    Suzanne Colby

    Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research)

    Laboratory and clinical studies, treatment development, and instrumentation research related to adolescent and young adult substance use disorders. Innovative interventions targeting heavy drinking, HIV risk behavior, and smoking in various poplulations including adolescents, young adults, adults receiving emergency medical care, and adults with schizophrenia.

  • Doshi

    Monika Doshi

    Assistant Professor

    HIV prevention, treatment, care; mental health; immigration and health; public health and human rights; women’s health; gender and sexuality; stigma and discrimination; qualitative and mixed methods; community-based participatory research; intervention development; monitoring and evaluation; health equity; and policy

  • Akilah Dulin

    Akilah (Keita) Dulin

    Associate Professor

    Neighborhood contexts of diet, physical activity, and obesity-related comorbidities; processes of neighborhood dynamics resulting from urban revitalization policies and public health interventions and the potential effects on the aforementioned behavioral and health outcomes; mixed methods approaches to identifying culturally appropriate childhood obesity interventions for under-served Asian populations; the roles of psychosocial stressors on health behaviors and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

  • Shira_Dunsiger

    Shira Dunsiger

    Associate Professor (Research)

    Advanced statistical methodology; Mediators and moderators of treatment effects; Patterns of behavior change; Methods for analyzing longitudinal incomplete binary data; Effects of Adherence on Behavioral Outcomes

  • Gladstone

    Tracy R. G. Gladstone

    Associate Professor

    Prevention of depression in adolescents and families; technology-based interventions; preventing depression in youth with intellectual and developmental disabilities; school-based depression and suicide screening.

  • Kimberly Goodyear Chavanne

    Kimberly Goodyear Chavanne

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Neural mechanisms underlying alcohol, opioid and other substance use disorders; pharmacological effects of drug treatments on behavioral and neural responses; stigmatization of opioid use

  • Diana Grigsby-Toussaint

    Diana Grigsby-Toussaint

    Associate Professor

    Social epidemiology, obesity, sleep, greenspace and health, mobile health, global health

  • Rachel Gunn

    Rachel Gunn

    Assistant Professor

    Co-use of alcohol & cannabis; etiology of problematic alcohol & cannabis use; impulsive personality; executive cognitive functioning; use of ambulatory assessment & alcohol biosensors to study mechanisms of alcohol consumption &consequences

  • Abigail Harrison

    Abigail Harrison

    Associate Professor (Research)

    Global health; social and contextual determinants of HIV/AIDS in South Africa; adolescent sexual risk behaviors and the transition to adulthood; gender, fertility and reproductive health; health disparities and structural interventions; qualitative and mixed methods research. 

  • Kristina Jackson

    Professor (Research)

    Developmental course, alcohol, initiation, progression, trajectories, adolescents, alcohol-tobacco comorbidity; longitudinal methodology and analysis, fine-grained data collection

  • Tim Janssen

    Tim Janssen

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Adolescent development, alcohol, structural equation modeling, multilevel modeling, adolescents, longitudinal methodology and analysis, ecological momentary assessment, determinants of substance use

  • Christopher Kahler

    Christopher Kahler

    Professor; Department Chair

    Smoking cessation; brief alcohol interventions; co-use of alcohol and tobacco; personality, affect, and addictions; alcohol and HIV/AIDS; positive psychology and positive psychotherapy

  • Aditya Khanna

    Aditya Khanna

    Assistant Professor

    Computational epidemiology; social network analysis; agent-based modeling; HIV/STI elimination; barriers to health equity;  substance use; incarceration.  

  • molly_magill

    Molly Magill

    Associate Professor (Research)

    Addictions treatment, behavioral or psychosocial interventions, longitudinal data-analysis; mechanisms of behavior change; mediators/moderators of treatment outcomes; process research

  • Bess Marcus

    Bess Marcus

    Professor

    Physical activity behavior, low-cost interventions to promote physical activity behavior in community, workplace, and primary care settings

  • rosemarie_martin

    Rosemarie Ann Martin

    Associate Professor

    Addictions treatment, behavioral or psychosocial interventions, longitudinal data-analysis; mechanisms of behavior change; mediators/moderators of treatment outcomes; process research 

  • matthew_meisel

    Matthew Meisel

    Assistant Professor

    Social network analysis; emerging adults; respondent-driven sampling and other sample methods; alcohol misuse and alcohol-related consequences; nonmedical use of prescription drugs; co-use of alcohol and other drugs; health disparities.

  • Andrea Mendoza-Vasconez

    Andrea S. Mendoza-Vasconez

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Physical activity and health promotion among Latinos, technology-based interventions, dissemination and implementation science, intersection of health and environmentally sustainable behaviors

  • jennifer_merrill

    Jennifer Merrill

    Associate Professor

    Alcohol misuse and consequences among young adults; subjective evaluations of alcohol-related consequences; use of ecological momentary assessment to understand young adult drinking; brief alcohol interventions

  • Metrik

    Jane Metrik

    Professor (Research)

    Pharmacological and psychological bases of acute effects of marijuana on behavior and decision-making process; genetic factors and other individual differences characterizing users most vulnerable to development of cannabis use disorders; alcohol marijuana interactions and cross-reactivity

  • Lauren Micalizzi

    Lauren Micalizzi

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Prenatal substance exposure; development of externalizing behavior problems; familial influences on adolescent substance use; self-regulation; behavioral genetic methods

  • Mollie_Monnig

    Mollie Monnig

    Assistant Professor

    Alcohol and drug effects on brain white matter, neurometabolism, and cognition; alcohol use in the context of HIV infection; inflammatory biomarkers.

  • Peter M. Monti

    Donald G. Miller Distinguished Professor of Alcohol and Addiction Studies, Director of the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies

    Alcohol treatment; brief interventions; mechanisms of change; cue reactivity; pharmacotherapy; adolescent use and abuse; alcohol and HIV/AIDs

  • Cara Murphy

    Cara Murphy

    Assistant Professor

    Addictions treatment; nicotine addiction; smoking cessation, e-cigarette use behaviors; multiple health behavior change; behavioral economics; obesity; weight gain prevention

  • Jennifer_Nazareno

    Jennifer Nazareno

    Barrett Hazeltine Assistant Professor of the Practice of Entrepreneurship; Associate Director of the Online MPH Program

    Structural and Social Determinants of Health and Illness; Immigrant Health; Women's Migration, Labor & Entrepreneurship; Qualitative Methods 

  • Amy Nunn

    Amy Nunn

    Professor; Executive Director, RI Public Health Institute

    Racial disparities in HIV infection and linkage to care in the US; working with faith and other community leaders to eradicate racial disparities in HIV infection in the US; access to medicines and other technologies in developing countries, and community-based research and mobilization.

  • jennifer_pellowski

    Jennifer Pellowski

    Assistant Professor

    HIV treatment adherence; sexual and reproductive health of women; culturally and contextually appropriate behavioral intervention design and evaluation; social and contextual determinants of health

  • Jeffrey_Proulx

    Jeffrey Proulx

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Development of mindfulness programs in underserved communities; bridging Native American & African-American traditional healing practices with mainstream mindfulness practices in order to create culturally-relevant stress reduction programs; resilience & well-being

  • Megan L Ranney

    Megan L. Ranney

    Academic Dean, Professor of Behavioral and Social Science / Health Services, Policy, and Practice

    Development and testing of technology-augmented interventions to identify, treat, and prevent violence and related behavioral health disorders; social media-based research, including qualitative and linguistic analysis of social media data; firearm injury prevention research and education; COVID-19 response, specifically melding technology with behavior change theory

  • Patricia_Risica

    Patricia Risica

    Associate Professor

    Obesity, nutritional epidemiology and eating behaviors; the influence of location of fat on the body with disease risk; weight gain during pregnancy and keeping weight after pregnancy; breastfeeding; and diabetes, heart disease and obesity among African American women, in addition to Alaska Natives and other native peoples around the polar parts of the globe

  • Michelle Rogers

    Michelle Rogers

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Child and adolescent health and well-being, chronic health conditions, social determinants of health; complex data management (probabilistic matching; cohort, family, and/or paired; insurance claims; electronic medical records)

  • Damaris Rohsenow

    Damaris Rohsenow

    Professor (Research)

    Pharmacotherapy and behavioral treatment for smoking among substance abusers; effects of pharmacotherapies for alcohol or smoking on mechanisms of effect; cue reactivity; measures development for alcohol, smoking, cocaine use/abuse/treatment; behavioral treatments for cocaine dependence

  • Robert Rosales

    Robert Rosales

    Assistant Professor

    The multilevels of oppression that produce health and health service disparities; Socioculturally adapted interventions to help address alcohol and substance use issues 

  • rochelle_rosen

    Rochelle Rosen

    Associate Professor

    Design of culturally relevant health behavior interventions using qualitative methodology; health research in the Pacific islands of American Samoa; vaginal microbicide acceptability

  • Sarker

    Malabika Sarker

    Professor of the Practice

    Implementation Research on maternal child health, communicable and non-communicable disease; health care service delivery for populations at risk for climate change; innovative study design; mixed method; developing mentoring program; outcome based curriculum development

  • Alexander Sokolovsky

    Alexander Sokolovsky

    Assistant Professor

    Etiology and progression of nicotine and tobacco use; antecedents, patterns, and consequences of adolescent and young adult substance use; ecological momentary assessment and translation to just-in-time adaptive interventions; respiratory health

  • Shufang Sun

    Shufang Sun

    Assistant Professor

    Minority stress and HIV prevention; LGBTQ health in domestic and international settings; early life adversities; mindfulness for underserved populations; mHealth and internet-based interventions

  • Jennifer_Tidey

    Jennifer Tidey

    Professor

    Tobacco regulatory science; smoking and other drug use in people with psychiatric illness; human behavioral pharmacology laboratory research; contingency management

  • Alison Tovar

    Alison Tovar

    Associate Professor

    To understand factors that shape eating behaviors early in life among diverse, underrepresented populations and develop community-based interventions among these populations to prevent diet-related diseases.

  • tara_white

    Tara White

    Assistant Professor (Research)

    Neural basis of individual differences in emotion and drug effects using fMRI, monoamine challenge; validated laboratory assessments of temperament, affect and behavior

  • Jackie White Hughto

    Jackie White Hughto

    Assistant Professor

    Epidemiological and bio-psycho-social intervention development research on HIV/AIDS, substance use, mental health, and health inequities with sexual, gender, and racial/ethnic minorities and other underserved and marginalized populations.

  • David Williams

    Professor; Director of the Center for Health Promotion and Health Equity

    Role of affect in health behavior; exercise promotion; smoking cessation; health behavior theory testing and development 

  • Tyler Wray

    Tyler Wray

    Edens Family Assistant Professor

    Digital health, technology-assisted behavior change, user-centered design, pragmatic clinical trials, commercialization & dissemination, virtual reality, addictions, HIV

  • Zelaya

    David Zelaya

    Assistant Professor

    Intersectionality, minority stress, and health disparities (e.g., HIV risk and hazardous alcohol use) within Queer People of Color (particular emphasis on Latinx sexual and gender minorities); cultural adaptation of behavioral interventions; anti-racism in pedagogy and research.

Secondary Appointments

  • Beth Bock

    Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (Research)

    Developing and testing innovative interventions for smoking cessation, exercise promotion, with an emphasis on the use of computer-based and mobile technologies to promote health behavior change.  Development of new behavioral theory to enhance our understanding of the process of decision making for stopping drug use among incarcerated individuals. 

  • Willoughby Britton

    Willoughby Britton

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry & Human Behavior (Research)

    Sleep, emotional disturbances, and new treatment/prevention strategies for mood disorders. The neurophysiological effects of mindfulness meditation in depression, including executive, affective, sleep, EEG, and endocrine functioning.

  • Philip_Chan

    Philip Chan

    Associate Professor of Medicine

    Medical Director of the only publicly funded sexually transmitted diseases (STD) clinic in Rhode Island, as well as Rhode Island’s only dedicated Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) Program; HIV/STI prevention, substance use, intervention development & implementation science

  • alethea_desrosiers

    Alethea Desrosiers

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

    Implementation science in the global mental health context; evidence-based mental health interventions; applying user-centered design to develop mHealth tools

  • A. Rani Elwy

    A. Rani Elwy

    Associate Professor (Research)

    Dissemination and implementation science, health communication, access to mental health care, and complementary and integrative health approaches to care

  • Brandon Gaudiano

    Brandon Gaudiano

    Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

    Psychosocial treatment development; mHealth; transitions of care; acceptance and mindfulness-based interventions; psychosis and severe mood disorders; suicide prevention

  • Elizabeth M. Goldberg

    Elizabeth M. Goldberg

    Associate Professor of Emergency Medicine

    Emergency department clinical trials; fall prevention; interventions to improve medication safety and mobility; digital health; qualitative methods

  • Kate Guthrie

    Kate M. Guthrie

    Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research)

    Assessment of biotechnology perceptibility & acceptability (patient experience) & use behaviors (adherence); quality of life, particularly in chronic illness; qualitative research methods in patient-oriented research; biomedical prevention technology design & development; assessment & prevention intervention development; HIV/STI prevention & reproductive health

  • Carolina_Haass-Koffler

    Carolina Haass-Koffler

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

    Transitional research (neuroscience-human laboratory studies) examining biobehavioral mechanisms of addiction, focus on: stress (HPA/extrahypothalamic), neuroendocrine pathways (brain-gut axis, ghrelin, leptin, insulin) and ethanol pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics modeling.

  • Kirsten Langdon

    Kirsten Langdon

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research)

    Kirsten Langdon, PhD, is a clinical psychologist at Rhode Island Hospital and an Assistant Professor (Research) in the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She is also the Associate Director of the Brown-Lifespan Center for Digital Health. Dr. Langdon received her doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Vermont. She completed her residency in clinical psychology at The Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University and affiliated hospitals, and a fellowship in clinical research in the National Center for PTSD Women’s Health Sciences Division at the VA Boston Healthcare System.

  • Eric Loucks

    Eric Loucks

    Associate Professor of Epidemiology

    Research focuses on elucidating biological mechanisms by which social factors such as mindfulness, education, and early life adversity may influence cardiovascular disease. Dr. Loucks has generated research findings that have helped to better understand how biological factors such as inflammatory markers, epigenetics, blood pressure, obesity, lipids, amongst others, may be important mechanisms through which social factors could influence cardiovascular disease. He is now increasingly moving into practical applications of the work, including randomized controlled trials of mindfulness interventions for cardiovascular disease risk reduction.

  • Robert Miranda

    Robert Miranda

    Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

    Leveraging behavioral neuroscience and human laboratory and ambulatory assessments to advance treatment options for youth who struggle to reduce their alcohol and other drug use.

  • Prerna Singh

    Prerna Singh

    Mahatma Gandhi Associate Professor of Political Science and International Studies

  • Laura_stroud

    Laura Stroud

    Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior (Research)

    Biobehavioral mechanisms of risk for depression and addiction (smoking/nicotine dependence); focus on child/adolescent and perinatal-fetal-infant transitions; physiological (HPA, neuroendocrine) responses to stress  in children/adolescents, infants, and pregnant mothers; HPA and fMRI response to social stressors in relation to risk for depression/addiction, maternal smoking and depression during pregnancy and effects on fetal and infant stress response and neurobehavior, emergence of sex differences in depression across the adolescent transition.

  • Robert Swift

    Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

  • Hayley_Treloar

    Hayley Treloar Padovano

    Assistant Professor of Psychiatry and Human Behavior

    Advancing current theories of addiction etiology; ecological momentary assessment; subjective alcohol and drug response; substance-use outcome expectancies; affect-based momentary impulsivity

  • Therese Zink

    Therese Zink

    Clinical Professor of Family Medicine

Clinical & Professors of the Practice

Adjunct & Departmental Associates

Emeriti

In Memoriam

  • David Lewis

    Professor

  • Albert Wesson

    Professor Emeritus

  • Mark Wood

    Professor, University of Rhode Island