Sherry Larkins, Ph.D.

Dr. Larkins has worked for UCLA’s Integrated Substance Use and Addiction Programs (ISAP) since 1998. She has lead various international, national, and state-level evaluation, training and capacity-building projects over the last two decades. Prior to these activities, she oversaw epidemiological and clinical research studies investigating the spread of HIV and other sexually transmitted infections among substance users, with a focus on treatment interventions for high-risk populations.  She has been involved in substance use research for over 25 years and completed her doctorate in medical sociology at Rutgers University in 1999. Her research interests include stimulant use, opioid use, substance use treatment for marginalized populations, prevention and early intervention strategies for youth, sexual risk behaviors associated with substance use, and qualitative methodologies.

Kate Taylor-Wolitzky, Ph.D.

Dr. Wolitzky-Taylor is a clinical researcher and licensed clinical psychologist with extensive experience in the development, evaluation, and implementation of cognitive and behavioral therapies (CBT) for anxiety disorder and comorbid substance use disorders (SUD). With over 100 publications, she has been continuously federally funded since her doctoral training in the Laboratory for the Study of Anxiety Disorders at the University of Texas at Austin, where she was funded to examine the efficacy of self-administered treatments for pathological worry. She completed her clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina, where she was funded on a training grant focusing on the research and treatment of trauma-related problems. She completed postdoctoral fellowship in the Anxiety and Depression Research Center at UCLA, serving as  Project Director for a multisite longitudinal study. She developed expertise in comorbid anxiety and SUD, as well as in effectiveness/implementation hybrid trials through a NIDA-funded Career Development Award. Since then, she has received funding for several NIDA- and NIAAA-funded clinical trials aims ed developing and evaluating novel behavioral treatments for comorbid anxiety disorders and SUD. She is currently the co-Director for a NIMH-funded ALACRITY Center (P50) that aims to optimize a digitally-focused, tiered model of care for anxiety and depression among community college students called STAND (Screening and Treatment of Anxiety and Depression). She also provides training, supervision, and oversight of several clinical training programs at UCLA with a focus on CBT for anxiety and related disorders, and sees patients in the UCLA Department of Psychiatry Faculty Practice.

Suzette Glasner, Ph.D.

Dr. Glasner is a clinical researcher and a licensed clinical psychologist with expertise in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), motivational interventions, and mindfulness based relapse prevention. Her work spans both digital health industry and academic settings, and focuses on development and evaluation of integrated digital health interventions for individuals with opioid, cannabis, and alcohol use disorders, combining behavioral therapy and pharmacotherapy. To this end, with support from NIDA, NIAAA, and NCCIH, she has developed and evaluated smartphone applications targeting relapse prevention and medication adherence for adults with substance use disorders and multiple co-occurring chronic health conditions, including HIV and depression in both efficacy trials and cost-effectiveness studies. She is also an award-winning author whose work aims to de-stigmatize addiction and increase evidence-based treatment uptake by making addiction science accessible to lay audiences.

Lilian Gelberg, M.D., MSPH, FAAFP

Dr. Lillian Gelberg is a family physician, health services researcher and professor in the department of family medicine at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA, the Fielding School of Public Health and the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. Her research focuses on community-based research including health promotion intervention clinical trials to improve healthy lifestyles and prevent cancer, substance use disorders, obesity, and other chronic diseases. Her work with diverse, low-income patients and homeless populations, including Veterans and their families, is advancing the national agenda to end homelessness and to promote healthy lifestyle change via integration of prevention into primary care. Gelberg is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, Association of American Physicians, and the UCLA Health Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Katherine E. Watkins, M.D.

Dr. Katherine E. Watkins is a senior physician policy researcher at RAND Corporation and a board-certified practicing psychiatrist.  Watkins is particularly interested in increasing access to treatment for vulnerable populations and in improving care for individuals with mental illness and substance abuse.  Working with public sector providers, her research has focused on designing, implementing and testing evidence-based practices in community settings; integrating the delivery of mental health, substance abuse and physical health care into single systems of care; and understanding and using public policy to improve the quality of behavioral health care. Watkins led a large national evaluation of the quality of mental health care provided by the Veterans Health Administration and has developed and validated quality measures for individuals with substance use disorders. More recently, she is working to integrate addiction treatment into primary care and specialty mental health settings, using behavioral economics to change opioid prescribing practices and testing collaborative care models with different populations and in different settings. 

Watkins received her M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania, completed a psychiatric residency at the University of California, Los Angeles, and was a Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar at the University of California, Los Angeles, where she obtained her master's degree in health services.

Allison Ober, Ph.D.

Allison J. Ober is a senior behavioral science researcher at RAND.  She has extensive expertise in implementation science and intervention research, and over twenty years of experience conducting substance use disorder research. She currently serves as principal investigator of several projects examining strategies for integrating medications for opioid use disorder into primary care, hospital, and mental health settings. Her current research interests include increasing access to and retention in substance use disorder treatment and innovative methods for improving reach of evidence-based practices.

Ricky Bluthenthal, Ph.D.

Dr. Bluthenthal is a Distinguished Professor and Interim Chair of Population and Public Health Sciences at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM), University of Southern California (USC). Since 1991, Dr. Bluthenthal has conducted community-partnered research on risk behaviors, drug use related health problems (i.e., HIV, HCV, overdose) and harm reduction efforts to prevent these health outcomes among people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men, and other disadvantaged populations. His studies have been funded by NIDA, NIAAA, NIMHD, and the CDC among others. Dr. Bluthenthal has published over 200 manuscripts in peer-reviewed scientific journals and is on editorial board of the International Journal of Drug Policy and Drug and Alcohol Dependence. As a graduate student, Dr. Bluthenthal co-founded the syringe service program in Oakland, California and was a founding board member of the National Harm Reduction Coalition. Dr. Bluthenthal received his BA in History and Sociology from the University of California Santa Cruz, and his MA and PhD in Sociology from the University of California Berkeley.

Adam M. Leventhal, PhD

Adam Leventhal, Ph.D. is University Professor in the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California (USC). He is a clinical psychologist, public health scientist, and academic administrator who advances research, education, practice, and policy that reduces addiction. He leads the USC Institute for Addiction Science, which supports transdisciplinary collaborative addiction research, education, and community engagement across 8 schools and colleges within the university and various partnering organizations. Dr. Leventhal has authored over 400 scientific articles on the causes, treatment, prevention, and consequences of addiction to nicotine, cannabis, and other drugs across the lifespan. Recent work focuses on translating science to policy for effective regulation of tobacco and other addictive consumer products. He is also active in public health service, having served in advisory roles for the US Food and Drug Administration, Surgeon General, and White House Office of National Drug Control Policy, and the World Health Organization to inform tobacco and other drug policies.