“I want to help people live healthier, happier, more meaningful lives and help diversify academia”
I am a research Clinical Psychologist and tenured Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Professor of Psychology, and Director of the University of Washington Center for the Study of Health and Risk Behaviors. I received my doctoral degree in clinical psychology from the University of Washington in 1992, after completing my clinical internship at the Brown Consortium. I completed my doctoral and postdoctoral training with Dr. Alan Marlatt, and have been on the faculty at UW since 1995. My primary areas of research interest include etiology, prevention, and treatment of alcohol use disorders and related comorbid health and mental health conditions, primarily among young adults. I have particular expertise in clinical trials research focusing on brief interventions utilizing motivational and cognitive behavioral strategies to reduce harmful alcohol and substance use and improve health outcomes. I have also conducted and mentored work in collaboration with several underrepresented and minoritized communities. My work has been continuously grant funded since graduate school, primarily through NIAAA. Currently, I direct a T32 alcohol research training program in its 38th year of funding, and serve as primary mentor for 9 doctoral students and 2 postdoctoral fellows. I received the Distinguished Faculty Award for Outstanding Mentoring from the UW Dept. of Psychology in 2005, was the Psychology Dept. nominee for the UW Marsha Landolt Distinguished Graduate Mentor award in 2012, and received the Wayne Katon Award for Outstanding Mentoring from the Dept. of Psychiatry in 2017. I served as president of the Research Society on Alcoholism from 2018-2019, was Secretary-Treasurer of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) from 2015-2019, and received the Lifetime Achievement Award from the ABCT Addictive Behaviors Special Interest Group in 2021. I currently serve on the National Advisory Council for NIAAA and recently received a NIAAA MERIT award supporting my work through 2028.