Division of Prevention and Community Research and The Consultation Center

Recruitment for this postdoctoral fellowship has concluded as of 3/1/13. This page will be updated for the next recruitment period (expected late fall 2013).

Two-year NIDA T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship: The Division of Prevention and Community Research, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine

The program emphasizes five areas of research training: 1) conceptualization, design, and implementation of prevention research using a social ecological framework; 2) knowledge development and application in pre-intervention, intervention, and dissemination research; 3) use of state-of-the-art data analytic and research methods; 4) interdisciplinary research through collaborations across programs, departments, centers, and institutions; and 5) translational research from controlled settings to real-world contexts with the purpose of impacting prevention practice and policy. Training occurs through seminars, focused research activities, and close mentorship with faculty scientific advisors in order to prepare fellows as future prevention researchers.

Postdoctoral fellows participate in core seminars on Research Methods, Data Analysis, Grant Development, and Professional Development as well as in seminars and colloquia that cover related topics, such as the ethical conduct of research and current topics in substance abuse prevention. Fellows also receive mentor-based training on two scientific projects while working concurrently with two core faculty who serve as their scientific advisors. Faculty available to serve as mentors are located in several research divisions in the Department of Psychiatry, such as the Division of Prevention and Community Research, the Division on Addictions, the Yale Stress Center, and Women’s Health Research at Yale, as well as in other Yale settings, such as the Department of Psychology and the School of Public Health.

Competitive candidates should have: 1) a Ph.D. in community, clinical, developmental, counseling, or health psychology, or a doctoral degree in public health or family studies; 2) a strong research background; and 3) interest in pursuing an academic career. Applicants are asked to send a CV, representative reprints, a statement of interests and future goals, identification of three faculty members with whom they wish to work listed in order of priority (available from the list below), and three letters of recommendation to: jacob.tebes@yale.edu, or to: Jacob K. Tebes, Ph.D., Director, Division of Prevention and Community Research & The Consultation Center, Department of Psychiatry, Yale University School of Medicine, 389 Whitney Avenue, New Haven, CT 06511. Reviews of applications will begin immediately and continue until the positions are filled. Yale University is an Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Employer. Women and minority group members are encouraged to apply.

Overview: Postdoctoral Training Program in Substance Abuse Prevention Research

Jacob K. Tebes, Ph.D., Program Director

As noted above, our training program emphasizes five areas of research training (described further below) as well as training in the ethical conduct of research. These include:

1. a theoretical focus on the conceptualization, design, and implementation of research within a social ecological framework that emphasizes relevant developmental, neurobiological, environmental, and cultural contexts, such as families, schools, worksites, neighborhoods, and communities;
2. training in prevention science as a process of knowledge development and application that progresses through phases – a pre-intervention phase (problem analyses using epidemiological and risk/protective factor research), an intervention phase (in which change strategies involving universal, selective, or indicated designs are chosen that are most likely to modify identified risk and protective factors and then implemented through the conduct of efficacy and effectiveness trials), and a dissemination or going-to-scale phase (in which effective interventions are disseminated on a broad basis, implementation fidelity is monitored, and dissemination efforts are evaluated);
3. the application of rigorous research methodologies, including training in state-of-the-art quantitative research methods and data analytic strategies as well as the use of mixed methods designs;
4. an emphasis on interdisciplinary research through collaborations across programs, departments, centers, and institutions, often in partnership with public or private entities regionally, nationally, or internationally; and,
5. the translation of research into real-world contexts that impact prevention practice and policy, such as moving from laboratory to clinic, from clinic to neighborhood, from classroom to school district, or from community settings to policy contexts.

These program emphases are reinforced through didactic seminars and individually-tailored research training experiences across two years that include a close working relationship with two faculty scientific advisors and participation in related institutional training and research experiences.

Scientific Projects Listed by Faculty Member Available July 2013

All fellows work with two faculty scientific advisors, and as part of their application, are asked to identify three faculty with whom they wish to work, listed in order of priority. Once matched with two faculty scientific advisors, fellows join research teams based on their interests and experience.

Tara M. Chaplin, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry. Her program of research focuses on emotion regulation and the development of psychopathology and substance use in youth and in the role of the family in the development and prevention of substance use. Dr. Chaplin is Principal Investigator of a 5-year NIDA-funded longitudinal study of biobehavioral responses to parent-adolescent interactions and adolescents’ initiation of substance use and HIV risk behaviors. She is currently developing a parenting-focused stress reduction intervention to improve parent-child relationships and prevent substance use and other negative health behaviors in children and adolescents.

Christian M. Connell, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, and Director, Child Development and Epidemiological Research. His research addresses issues related to the prevention of risk behaviors and the promotion of positive outcomes for at-risk child and adolescent populations within community settings or served through formal systems of care. A primary focus of his current research examines outcomes for children exposed to maltreatment and other trauma, or who are involved in the child welfare or children’s behavioral health systems. This research includes a focus on child, family, and other factors that interact to influence youth outcomes, as well as the evaluation of community-based services and supports to improve child and family outcomes. Other areas of research include the development of risky and antisocial behaviors (including substance use, risky sexual behavior, or antisocial/delinquent activity) among community-based child and adolescent populations and the use of advanced multivariate data analytic methods to examine risk and protective processes associated with developmental processes in these types of behavioral outcomes.

Cindy A. Crusto, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and Director, Program and Service System Evaluation. Dr. Crusto’s program of research examines the impact of psychological trauma (e.g., family and community violence) on children, and ecological influences on child and family well-being. Dr. Crusto also studies social processes and influences on the health and development of young children, including parent experiences of racism and neighborhood context. Opportunities are available to join NIH-funded research on the influence of child factors and broader social determinants and processes on young children’s health and/or to work with existing cross sectional and longitudinal databases to examine the impact of services and supports on children’s clinical and functional outcomes as well as assess the risk and protective factors (e.g., parental substance use, parenting stress, children’s exposure to psychological trauma) associated with children’s mental health

Derrick M. Gordon, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and Director, Program on Male Development. His program of research seeks to identify factors that impact whether men and boys are able to function as healthy family and community members. Dr. Gordon is interested in understanding how young men use preventive health care services and the factors that either facilitate or inhibit access. His research also focuses on examining how adolescent fatherhood, low income fatherhood status, and transitioning from prison to the community impact men’s health. This research seeks to understand the resources needed to support men and boys to successfully attain the skills needed to assume productive roles in their family and community systems.

Nathan B. Hansen, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Development Core, Center for Interdisciplinary Research on AIDS (CIRA). His program of research aims to advance the fields of Global Mental Health and HIV Prevention by synthesizing research on mental health disorders and care systems across Western and non-Western settings, including: (1) cross-cultural analyses of mental health problems and treatments, (2) an emphasis on interdisciplinary research methods to address mental health disorders and implementation of prevention and care programs in community settings, and (3) bidirectional learning in terms of bridging domestic and international research to better implement research findings into effective policy and practice.

Joy S. Kaufman, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry at Yale; Director, Program and Service System Evaluation; and Co-Director, Evaluation Research. Her research program utilizes data from rigorous evaluations of community-based programs to examine contextual factors, such as exposure to violence, substance use or familial stress that impact outcomes for populations at risk. In collaboration with community-based organizations, state departments, consumers, and other investigators, Dr. Kaufman and her team design evaluations that have the goal of informing program and policy development. Dr. Kaufman is currently examining data collected from a longitudinal evaluation of a behavioral health system of care for children under the age of 6 to determine the impact of contextual factors on outcomes for young children with social and emotional difficulties.

Carolyn M. Mazure, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry and Psychology; Director, Division of Women’s Behavioral Health; and the Associate Dean for Faculty Affairs at Yale. As a clinical researcher, her investigative efforts have focused on gender differences in predictors of illness onset and treatment response with an emphasis on depression and nicotine dependence. Dr. Mazure is the Director of Women’s Health Research at Yale, Yale’s university-wide interdisciplinary program on health and gender; is the Scientific Director of the Yale Translational Center to Develop Gender-Sensitive Treatment for Tobacco Dependence (NIH SCOR); and is the PI for the NIH ORWH/NIDA-funded Yale Faculty Training Grant on Women and Addictive Behaviors (BIRCWH Award) which provides interdisciplinary training through mentoring, coaching, and team science experience for entry-level faculty focused on women’s health and addictive behaviors. Fellows’ projects would be focused on gender-specific aspects of smoking cessation.

Sherry McKee, Ph.D., is Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Director, Yale Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory. Her research is focused on improving treatment for those with nicotine and alcohol use disorders. Using a transdisciplinary perspective, she utilizes various methodologies including human laboratory paradigms, survey research, epidemiological research, and policy research to uncover the mechanisms underlying poor outcomes and translate these findings into improved interventions. Currently, Dr. McKee is leading a large interdisciplinary research effort to develop smoking cessation interventions that are sensitive to gender differences in smoking behavior. Researchers spanning diverse areas of expertise (e.g., molecular biology, neuroimaging, pharmacology, pharmacogenetics, health economics, policy) are collaborating to develop effective interventions for female and male smokers.

Rajita Sinha, Ph.D., is Foundations Fund Professor of Psychiatry, Child Study, and Neurobiology; Director, Yale Stress Center; and Chief, Psychology Section in Psychiatry. Her research is focused on the mechanisms linking stress to addiction and seeks to: (a) elucidate sex-specific neurobiological mechanisms underlying stress in humans; (b) examine neurobiological alterations in stress and reward circuits associated with addictive disorders; and (c) develop effective addiction prevention and treatment strategies that target stress and emotion regulation in individuals both at-risk for and those with addiction problems. These objectives are accomplished through various NIH funded research projects available for fellow involvement.

Tami P. Sullivan, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and Director, Family Violence Research and Programs. Her NIDA- and NIJ-funded program of research is centered on individual- and system-level factors that affect the mental and physical health of women victims of intimate partner violence (IPV). At the individual level, Dr. Sullivan conducts risk and protective factor research focusing specifically on advancing knowledge of IPV, posttraumatic stress, substance use, and HIV/sexual risk – as well as other co-occurring problems. At the system-level, her research focuses on understanding the capacity of systems (e.g., the criminal justice system) to meet the unique needs of IPV-exposed women.

Jacob K. Tebes, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry, Child Study, and Public Health; Director Division of Prevention and Community Research & The Consultation Center; and, Director, NIDA Research Training Program in Substance Abuse Prevention. His research focuses on conducting community-based studies that identify risk and protective factors associated with resilience as well as related interventions that promote resilience in vulnerable populations. His research is conducted in collaboration with other investigators, CBOs, governmental agencies, and community stakeholders, and seeks to inform practice and policy development. Dr. Tebes also conducts research on interdisciplinary team science, including two current studies: 1) NIH-funded evaluation research on interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the link between stress and addiction, and 2) RWJF-funded research on interdisciplinary and intersectoral collaborations that examines public arts participation as a basis for promoting recovery from addiction/mental illness and the revitalization of distressed neighborhoods. Both studies utilize rigorous mixed method designs to examine outcomes at multiple ecological levels.

Nadia L. Ward, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry and Director, Urban Education. Her research examines cultural and contextual factors that influence social, behavioral, health, and achievement outcomes for low-income and minority youth. This work involves the design, implementation and assessment of preventive interventions that promote adaptive functioning and reduce problem behaviors (e.g., substance abuse, delinquency, academic failure) associated with negative developmental outcomes among urban youth. Dr. Ward is the principal investigator of two, DOE-funded seven-year longitudinal studies of a comprehensive urban school reform initiative that is designed to support the social-emotional, academic, and behavioral health outcomes of 3,000 low-income and urban middle school students. Fellows join a research team study that examines stress and coping mechanisms among urban adolescents (and their mothers) and the role that social support plays in mediating mental health, primary health and academic achievement outcomes.