Institute for Translational Research Education in Adolescent Substance Use (ITRE)
Mentoring & Service Learning Curriculum
A unique feature of the Institute is a team mentoring approach. Community partners, academic mentors and the ITRE executive committee members work together to guide scholars in the latest science of alcohol and drug abuse prevention, intervention, and sustainability with an added emphasis on translational research and evidence-based practice (EBP).
Academic Mentors
Academic mentors have been identified based on their expertise in adolescent behavioral health, alcohol and drug use, co-occurring substance abuse and mental disorders, and translational research. Expand the link below to see all current and previous mentors.
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Dr. Amy Armstrong-Heimsoth is the Department Chair & Associate Clinical Professor for the Department of Occupational Therapy at NAU on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. She has been a faculty member with the department since 2015. She was an ITRE Cohort 5 Scholar and currently serves as academic mentor for ITRE. Amy graduated with a doctoral degree from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in 2014. She earned her Bachelor鈥檚 Degree in Human Development & Family Studies from the University of Missouri in 1992 and her Master鈥檚 Degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California in 1997. Amy has 25 years of clinical pediatric occupational therapy experience. Her research interests include neurodevelopmental disabilities, influences of trauma on development, empowerment through health literacy, and foster care youth. Amy currently serves as President of the Arizona Occupational Therapy Association. She is also a board member for Opportunity, Community, & Justice for Kids, which serves foster care youth in Arizona.
Donna L. Burton, PhD is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the 51在线. Dr. Burton is a faculty member and member of the Institute for Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health鈥檚 Executive Committee. Dr. Burton鈥檚 areas of research specialization include implementation science and translational research respective to child and adolescent behavioral health and trauma-informed care. She brings to her current position over 25 years of experience in the delivery of drug abuse and mental health services, including specialty services to address co-occurring disorders for adolescents, adults, and families through integrated community-based behavioral health programming.
Dr. Brooke De Heer is an Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at NAU. She earned her M.A. (2009) and Ph.D. (2011) in Psychology, with an emphasis in quantitative legal psychology at The University of Texas, El Paso. She teaches and conducts research in the areas of criminology and victimology with a strong focus on community-engaged scholarship. Her research to date has primarily focused on issues of gender and power in sexual violence, and inequitable treatment and consideration of vulnerable victims involved in the criminal justice system. Two themes that run through her scholarship are: 1) the representation of diverse populations as victims of sexual violence; and 2) understanding antecedents and responses to gendered violence, including availability of services. She currently teaches courses on Feminist Justice, Gendered Violence and the American Court System at NAU. She previously worked as an Intelligence Analyst for the FBI.
Bruce Lubotsky Levin, DrPH, MPH is Associate Professor in the Department of Child & Family Studies at the University of South 51在线 (USF) College of Behavioral & Community Sciences and Associate Professor & Head of the Behavioral Health Concentration at the USF College of Public Health. Dr. Levin is also Co-Principal Investigator and Curriculum Director for the USF Institute for Translational Research Education in Adolescent Drug Abuse. Dr. Levin currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research. He is Senior Editor of Foundations of Behavioral Health (Springer, In press, Senior Editor of Introduction to Public Health in Pharmacy, Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2018), Co-Author of Mental Health Informatics (Oxford University Press, 2013), and Senior Editor or Co-Author of seven additional textbooks in public health and behavioral health. His research interests include behavioral health policy, informatics, and translational research in adolescent behavioral health.
Tom Massey, PhD is an Associate Professor and Division Director in the Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences at the 51在线. Dr. Massey is a Co-Principal Investigator and Evaluation Director at the Institute for Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health and Concentration Director for the Translational Research and Evaluation specialty track in the Masters of Science in Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health program. He specializes in the organization, implementation, and evaluation of mental health services for adolescents in schools and the community. He has expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodology and has conducted research and evaluation projects on the delivery of mental and behavioral health services in K-12, the sustainability of mental health services, and adolescent engagement in effective services. He is the author of Evaluation Human Research Development Programs: A Practical Guide for Public Agencies and numerous publications and book chapters devoted to evaluation in the applied sector.
Kathleen A. Moore, PhD is a Research Professor in USF鈥檚 Department of Mental Health, Law, and Policy as well as the Executive Director of the Louis de la Parte 51在线 Mental Health Institute (FMHI). She received her Ph.D. in Health Psychology from Kent State University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. For the past 24 years, she has collaborated with mental health and substance use agencies as well as different problem-solving courts. Her focus is on program evaluation, bridging the gap between research and practice. She has developed and taught several core courses within USF鈥檚 Behavioral Healthcare undergraduate program as well as the Behavioral and Community Sciences PhD program and is a certified trainer for Mental Health First Aid. She also serves on several committees, both within USF and in the community such as the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance, Tampa Alcohol Coalition, and drug court steering committees. Dr. Moore has been Co-PI on numerous NIH-related grants and PI on over 20 SAMHSA grant projects with a focus on treatment drug court and opioid use disorder. These grant-related projects have resulted in peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, and professional presentations at local, statewide, and national conferences.
Past Academic Mentors
Julie Baldwin, PhD is a Regent's Professor at Northern Arizona University's College of Health and Human Services and the Director of the Center for Health Equity Research. Her research has focused on alcohol and drug abuse prevention in youth and young adults, utilizing community-based participatory research approaches, working with underserved and/or marginalized populations (particularly American Indian), and addressing health disparities by developing and implementing culturally competent public health interventions. As an enrolled member of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, she has made a life-long commitment to serving diverse communities and to advocating for health promotion programs for children, adolescents and families.
Amy Green, PhD, a Nationally Certified School Psychologist (NCSP) and a School Psychology Resident at LCCC, provides comprehensive psychoeducational testing and evaluation services and skill building for students in Pre-Kindergarten through 12th grade. Throughout her career, Dr. Amy has dedicated herself to helping children and families succeed. As a practitioner and researcher, she has worked with children and families from many diverse backgrounds, published numerous articles in peer reviewed scientific publications, and taught undergraduate and graduate level courses in psychological sciences and child and adolescent behavioral health.
Enya B. Vroom, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Long School of Medicine at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio. She is also a Core Scholar at the Center for Research to Advance Community Health (ReACH), faculty in the ReACH Center鈥檚 Dissemination and Implementation Core, and the lead evaluator of the Recovery Support Services Provider Network at the Be Well Institute on Substance Use and Related Disorders. Dr. Vroom earned a PhD in Behavioral and Community Sciences from the 51在线 and completed an NIH NIDA T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of 51在线鈥檚 Substance Abuse Training Center in Public Health. She is also a former ITRE scholar (Cohort 4). Specializing in qualitative and mixed methods designs, her research program focuses on examining barriers, facilitators, and strategies for the adoption, implementation, and sustainability of substance use prevention, intervention, and treatment efforts. Her research portfolio also includes innovative efforts for building workforce capacity in implementation science and practice among investigators and healthcare professionals.
Heather J. Williamson, DrPH is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Occupational Therapy and the Center for Health Equity Research at Northern Arizona University. Clinically, she worked for ten years providing occupational therapy services for children with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD). In her role as Associate Executive Director of United Cerebral Palsy of Tampa Bay, she was responsible for overseeing programs providing supports for both children and adults with IDD including early intervention, occupational therapy, physical therapy, speech therapy, supported employment, supported living, and respite services. Her primary research interests include: addressing health and other disparities experienced by individuals with intellectual and/or developmental disabilities (IDD); understanding best practices or policies supporting health equity for individuals with IDD and their family caregivers; and utilizing community-based participatory research methods to increase participation of communities, including the IDD community, in research.
Peer Mentors
Peer mentors are past Scholars who have volunteered to provide support to incoming Scholars as they engage in service-learning activities. Expand the link below to see all current and previous mentors.
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Alexandra Albizu-Jacob is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Behavioral and Community Sciences program at USF. She earned her master鈥檚 degree in public health in the Behavioral Health Concentration from USF COPH. She was in the first cohort of ITRE Scholars 2013-2014. She has provided peer mentorship to numerous cohorts of ITRE scholars. Alexandra鈥檚 experience includes technical assistance, evaluation, and clinical trial project management across a wide variety of topics including adolescent behavioral health, trauma-informed care, men鈥檚 mental health and wellbeing, father engagement in schools, and pediatric psycho-oncology. Currently, she is a graduate research associate for a 5-year, PCORI-funded randomized controlled trial that aims to reduce racial disparities in hospital readmissions and negative outcomes post hospitalization for older adult African Americans and Hispanics. Her research interests include examining community, organization, and system-level processes through implementation science research and practice.
Tracy Bales is a doctoral student in the CBCS PhD Degree program at USF. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Design from UF and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Honors from USF. In addition, Tracy earned a Master of Public Health at USF COPH and a Graduate Certificate in ITRE at USF CBCS. Her previous research focused on health decision-making, adolescent substance use prevention, and implementation fidelity in prevention programming. Her current research interests include parent-involved cyberbullying prevention, gamification in prevention programming, behavioral economics, and arts in health.
Dr. Emily Farber earned a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from Arizona State University. While in her doctoral program, she also obtained a graduate certificate in Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health from the University of Southern 51在线. Through her dedication to research, her peers and faculty at NAU presented her with the Outstanding Practice Scholar award during her graduation ceremony. At this time, she serves as a Practice Scholarship Apprenticeship Mentor for her alma mater as well as a principal investigator (PI) and a co-PI on two funded research projects. Her current research focuses on bridging the gap in foster care transition services. As a research assistant, she studied the effects of assisted cycling therapy on the motor and cognitive processes of adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Dr. Amanda Hunter is a citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and was born and raised in Tucson, AZ. Dr. Hunter earned her MPH (2016) and PhD (2020) in health behavior and health promotion from the University of Arizona. She currently resides in Flagstaff, Arizona and is a postdoctoral scholar at NAU鈥檚 Center for Health Equity Research under the mentorship of Dr. Julie Baldwin. Amanda鈥檚 research focuses on the relationship between cultural identity and mental and behavioral health outcomes in Indigenous youth. Since 2015, Amanda has worked with Indigenous communities in Arizona to develop, implement, and evaluate a culturally grounded after-school program called Native Spirit. Native Spirit aims to strengthen resilience, cultural identity, and self-esteem, while attenuating substance use in Indigenous youth. Dr. Hunter uses a community-grounded and mixed-methods approach to conduct evaluation of the Native Spirit program.
Tajhah Kittling earned a Master鈥檚 degree in Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health from USF and has over 10 years of experience with community-based initiatives. Most of her educational and employment history focuses on behavioral health within a community. Direct engagement with children, adolescents, young adults, and adult families spurred her interest in improvement science, blending dissemination with implementation and sustainability. Her current practices actively implement evidence-based treatments on a local level with community professionals, where the focus is on providing direct services and cultivating program intrapreneurship. She aims to structure her practices and leadership around neuro-inclusion, trauma-informed management, system of care, values, principles, and equity. Her goal is to focus on the integration of new culturally responsive policies while developing employee personal and professional skills through a supervision/coaching model. Tajah has been affiliated with ITRE since 2023 as Scholar in cohort-10
Manuel 鈥淢anny鈥 Mayor is a student in the DrPH program at USF, COPH, and graduated with an MPH degree in public health administration. He has more than 13 years of public health experience, which includes research and prevention efforts in the fields of Human Immunodeficiency viruses, colorectal cancer, Alzheimer鈥檚 Disease, and tobacco cessation. He is currently working at Premier Community HealthCare to create connections with community members, collaborate with community organizations, and coordinate events aiming to improve community access and health. As the Community Engagement Manager, he manages a team that helps the community in gaining health care access, health education, and social resources. A focus of his efforts is underserved communities such as migrant seasonal agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness, and public housing residents among others. Manny has been affiliated with ITRE since 2023 as Scholar in cohort-10
Kimberly Menendez is a doctoral candidate in Behavioral and Community Sciences at USF and is the Senior Editorial Associate for the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research. She earned a master's degree in forensic psychology and is a certified prevention professional. Kimberly earned a graduate certificate from the ITRE as a Cohort 1 Scholar. She has also served as an ITRE community agency mentor for several ITRE cohorts. Prior to her acceptance into the PhD program, her career has been in child and adolescent behavioral health equipping youth with skills to avoid risky behaviors such as substance use and violence. Her current area of research focuses on adult populations with opioid use disorder and includes the exploration of opioid-related surveillance data within emergency medical services systems.
Elzbieta Wiedbusch is a doctoral student in the Behavioral and Community Sciences program at USF. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminal Justice/Criminology from Loyola University Chicago. Elzbieta has assisted in research projects regarding youth community violence exposure, recovery from substance misuse and addiction, and the criminal justice system's impact on marginalized communities. Her efforts resulted in poster presentations at regional and national conferences and published manuscripts on recovery from substance use disorders. Her current research focuses on the intersection of substance misuse and addiction, trauma, and attention deficit disorder among girls in the juvenile justice system. Elzbieta is also interested in diagnostic procedures and assessments used in juvenile justice systems and their validity for female and non-White youth. Her professional goal is to promote and disseminate evidence-based prevention and intervention programs for youth at risk for criminal justice involvement. She plans to work with community-based agencies to prevent local youth from justice involvement and provide them with needed behavioral health service. Elzbieta has been affiliated with ITRE since 2023 as Scholar in cohort-10.
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Molly Hahn-Floyd is a clinician in pediatric home health and the Colorado Ambassador for the American Occupational Therapy Political Action Committee (AOTPAC). She has previously worked as a clinical preceptor in older adult home health and in inpatient rehabilitation. She was formerly a board member for the North Carolina OT Association and the North Carolina Ambassador for AOTPAC.
Jade Heffern is a doctoral student in the combined Counseling/School Psychology PhD Degree program at Northern Arizona University. She has research experience working on studies involving personality that used the NEO-PI-R, looking at kindergarten readiness factors that are related to third grade achievement outcomes, and she helped conduct a needs assessment for a Native American community agency youth substance abuse prevention program. Her current research interests include personality, acculturation, kindergarten readiness, and Native American youth resiliency.
Sarah Sheffield is a prior Hillsborough County Child Protective Investigator/ Trainer and private practice substance abuse clinician who specializes in trauma-related service interventions for transition-age foster care youth as well as first responders. Her past research with Hillsborough County Children Services focused on program development for transition-age youth in residential foster care under the premise of translational research while her current research interests expound on this concept and concentrate on services for first responders. Sarah currently works for the USF Department of Child and Family Studies in the capacity of a graduate teaching associate, completing her PhD in Behavioral and Community Sciences while instructing undergraduates in the field of mental health.
Shaylynne Shuler is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Sciences at Worcester State University. Previously, she was a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Collaboration on Health, Intervention, and Policy at the University of Connecticut. Shaylynne studies stigma processes that link minoritized groups, particularly sexual and gender minorities (SGM), to disadvantaged health. She received her PhD in Interdisciplinary Health with an emphasis in Health Equity from Northern Arizona University. In addition to her PhD, Shaylynne has a Master鈥檚 degree in Anthropology, and graduate certificates in Women鈥檚 and Gender Studies, Applied Statistics, and Translational Research: Adolescent Behavioral Health and Substance Use.