Emily M. Becker-Haimes, Ph.D. is an Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine and the Clinical Director of the Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall Mercer (PATCH) program. She is a clinical psychologist and implementation scientist dedicated to improving mental healthcare for youth.
Dr. Becker-Haimes’ research dually focuses on treatment optimization for pediatric anxiety and related disorders and studying how to optimize the implementation of evidence-based treatments such as cognitive behavioral therapy into community settings. Dr. Becker-Haimes is the author of the Resource for Exposures for Anxiety Disordered Youth (READY) Toolkit (www.bravepracticeforkids.com) and has developed and led research concerning the implementation and utilization of exposure therapy in diverse clinical settings. Dr. Becker-Haimes has authored over 75 peer-reviewed publications and her work is funded by organizations such as the National Institutes of Mental Health (NIMH), the International OCD Foundation, and the Pew Charitable Trust. She has received several national awards for her work, including the Future Directions Launch Award from the Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology, the Outstanding New Investigator Award from the Society for Implementation Research Collaboration, and the Early Career Psychologist of the Year Award from the Pennsylvania Psychological Association.
Clinically, Dr. Becker-Haimes is an expert in the treatment of anxiety and related disorders, with expertise in the application of exposure therapy for anxious youth with complex comorbidities. She has trained hundreds of clinicians in the application of exposure therapy and is dedicated to advancing the reach of exposure therapy to all youth who might benefit. Dr. Becker-Haimes also conducts the initial diagnostic evaluations for youth receiving services through the PATCH program and provides clinical supervision to PATCH clinicians and trainees.
Dr. Becker-Haimes received her undergraduate degree from Johns Hopkins University and her Ph.D in child clinical psychology from the University of Miami. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. She is a licensed psychologist in the state of Pennsylvania.
CURRENT PROJECTS
The Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer (PATCH)
Anxiety and related disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders that affect children and adolescents. Fortunately, they are also among the most responsive to treatment. PATCH (Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer) is a specialty clinic in Center City Philadelphia that assesses and treats children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tics, and trichotillomania. PATCH is the only anxiety clinic in the greater Philadelphia region to serve youth with public insurance and is currently the only designated evidence-based practice center for exposure-based CBT within the Philadelphia public mental health system.
Project ACTIVE (Assessing Casual Pathways and Targets of Implementation Variability for EBP use)
Anxiety and related disorders are among the most common psychiatric disorders that affect children and adolescents. Fortunately, they are also among the most responsive to treatment. PATCH (Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer) is a specialty clinic in Center City Philadelphia that assesses and treats children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tics, and trichotillomania. PATCH is the only anxiety clinic in the greater Philadelphia region to serve youth with public insurance and is currently the only designated evidence-based practice center for exposure-based CBT within the Philadelphia public mental health system.
The Resources for Exposures for Anxiety Disordered Youth (READY) Toolkit
The READY toolkit is a compendium of resources for practicing clinicians to support their delivery of exposure-based techniques to clinicians. The READY toolkit provides an overview of the rationale, theory for, and effective delivery of exposures. It highlights some of the nuances, common pitfalls, and things to avoid in the delivery of exposure therapy. Most critically, the toolkit provides an array of exposure options (“challenge cards”) for the most common anxiety presentations in youth. We know that ongoing consultation with an expert in youth anxiety treatment to design tailored exposures for individual youth is not always feasible. The READY toolkit is designed to stimulate ideas for additional exposure options that are best suited for a specific child or teenager. Our team continues to refine and develop content for the READY toolkit and evaluate its acceptability, feasibility, and impact on supporting clinicians to deliver exposure therapy to youth who may benefit. The READY toolkit can be accessed for free at www.bravepracticeforkids.com.
Role: Principal Investigator
Project RESPECT (Revamping Evidence based Supports to Promote Effective Culturally responsive Treatment)
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For Project RESPECT the title is good. Change associated text to say: There is strong evidence that current evidence-based interventions (EBIs) need systematic adaptation to improve the cultural responsiveness and fit for historically underserved youth and families, but there is little guidance on what and how to systematically adapt, especially within OCD treatment. The goal of this study, led by CMH formal postdoctoral fellow Dr. Amanda Sanchez, is to understand how to best apply person-centered cultural adaptations by utilizing a systematic user-centered process. This is centered around clinician feedback and emphasizes collaborative decision making to develop a cultural adaptation toolkit for use with youth with OCD and related disorders. The aims of this study are threefold: 1) to evaluate the effectiveness of cultural adaptations being made to EBIs for pediatric OCD and related disorders, examined through chart reviews and semi-structured interviews, 2) to develop a culturally responsive adaptation toolkit and training plan for youth with OCD, and 3) to evaluate perceived acceptability and feasibility of the toolkit and training plan in a sample of clinicians. This project supports innovative clinical research on the treatment of OCD and related disorders and to specifically understand the role race, ethnicity, and culture play in OCD treatment. This study will begin to fill a critical gap in current understanding of how to improve the cultural responsiveness of pediatric OCD treatment and reduce inequities.
Role: Mentor
Funder: The International Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Foundation
Mechanism: Michael Jenike Young Investigator Award (PI: Amanda Sanchez, PhD)
Coping First Aid
The Penn Coping First Aid Program (CFA) was originally launched implemented in March 2020 as an accessible support service to those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic within a large health system in Philadelphia. It has since been scaled out more broadly to support the well-being of the Penn Medicine Community. CFA is grounded in principles of Psychological First Aid, therapeutic microskills, and evidence-informed wellness techniques. Services are delivered by lay community volunteer coaches who are trained to listen, provide support, help individuals engage in adaptive coping, provide resources, and assist in linking to higher levels of care when needed. Ongoing satisfaction and perceived effectiveness data are collected to continuously evaluate and refine the program to optimize its potential impact to the Penn community. The CFA program is co-directed by Dr. Courtney Wolk and Dr. Emily-Becker-Haimes, in partnership with the Penn Workforce Wellness Committee.
Role: Co-Director
INTAAKE Improving New Therapy Appointment Access, Knowledge, and Experiences
The goal of this study is to identify and generate strategies to alleviate the barriers that families of youth with anxiety and other related disorders face in engaging with specialty anxiety treatment. To achieve our aims, we are utilizing data from the Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer(PATCH), a specialty anxiety clinic located in Philadelphia dedicated to serving youth in the public mental health system. Aim 1 will identify family and youth characteristics associated with failure to engage with an initial intake appointment, using a retrospective intake database with 400+ youth. Aim 2 is to conduct semi-structured interviews with 10 caregivers who did not attend their initial clinic appointments to understand the perceived barriers and inquire whether a family-peer navigator (FPN) would be a helpful strategy to alleviate barriers. We hope to use all information learned to develop a family peer support service model.to assist caregivers to successfully engage with care for their children.
Role: Principal Investigator
Funder: Leonard Davis Institute (LDI)
Mechanism: LDI Small Grant Pilot Program
CALMER: Clinician Affect Labeling and Management through Exposure Research
Project CALMER is one of three exploratory projects being conducted through the Penn INSPIRE Center. The goal of this study is to design and test a novel exposure-based implementation strategy (EBIS) targeting clinician anxiety and low efficacy using evidence-base suicide screening, assessment, and interventions (SSAIs). This project has three aims. In Aim 1, we will develop the EBIS protocol in collaboration with a community advisory board. In Aim 2, we will field-test the EBIS using rapid cycle prototyping (a fast-testing process which incorporates updated components with each new participant) with approximately 15 clinicians. In Aim 3, we will conduct an initial pilot feasibility randomized controlled trial with 40 randomized clinicians to test the acceptability, feasibility, and preliminary effectiveness of the EBIS compared to implementation as usual (IAU).
Role: Co-Principal Investigator with Dr. Maria Oquendo
Dr. Brodkin is Associate Professor of Psychiatry with tenure at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He is board certified in psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and he is an attending psychiatrist at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Brodkin received his A.B. Magna Cum Laude in History of Science from Harvard University, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He received an M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He then completed an internship in pediatrics and residency in psychiatry at Yale-New Haven Medical Center, and was chief psychiatry resident at the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at Yale, which included a clinical and research program for diagnosis and treatment of adults with ASD. He went on to a postdoctoral fellowship in neurobiology research at Yale University School of Medicine and genetics research at Princeton University. He has been a psychiatrist and faculty member at University of Pennsylvania since 2002.
Since 1993, Dr. Brodkin has been involved in clinical assessment and care of adults with ASD, and since 1995 he has been conducting neuroscience research, genetics, and treatment research relevant to the autism spectrum. He is the author of many publications in the field of autism research. His research on autism has been supported by the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the Simons Foundation, the Philadelphia Foundation, and philanthropic gifts.
His expertise in the area of adult autism has been recognized by his being listed in the Philadelphia Magazine “Top Doctors” in the years 2006-2007 and 2009-2022 and in Castle Connelly Medical America’s Top Doctors in 2007-2023.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Adult Spectrum Program of Excellence (ASPE)
Brodkin is co-director of ASPE, a collaborative research effort of a group of investigators at the University of Pennsylvania. The ASPE project’s goals are to 1) elucidate biological influences on autism spectrum traits, and 2) develop and test the effectiveness of programs, supports, and treatments in improving the quality of life and flourishing of individuals on the autism spectrum, including adults on the autism spectrum.
Developing electrophysiological markets for clinical trials in autistic adults
In order to develop more effective treatments autism, there is a strong need for biomarkers that can help to target treatments to subgroups most likely to benefit from specific treatments, and that can help in monitoring treatment response. In this project — a collaboration between the research groups of Edward Brodkin (U Penn) and Timothy Roberts (CHOP) — we are assessing several promising brain electrophysiological markers for their suitability and readiness to be used in clinical trials in autistic adults.
Armellino Center of Excellence for Williams syndrome (ACE for WS)
Williams syndrome is a genetic condition associated with a number of medical, neurodevelopmental, and behavioral symptoms. In the ACE for WS, Dr. Brodkin coordinates a behavioral health team of psychiatrists, psychologists, and other professionals in providing behavioral healthcare for individuals with Williams syndrome, across the lifespan. In addition, Dr. Brodkin will be conducting research on the genes involved in Williams syndrome, as well as the effectiveness of supports and treatments for individuals with Williams syndrome.
Molly Candon, PhD is an Assistant Professor in the Center for Mental Health (Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine) and the Department of Health Care Management (Wharton School) at the University of Pennsylvania. Molly is a health economist by training, with expertise in health care financing and program evaluation. Currently, she studies how insurance design and reimbursement can be leveraged to improve mental health care, substance use treatment, and pain management, particularly acupuncture. Through the Center for Mental Health’s longstanding relationship with the City of Philadelphia, Molly works closely with Community Behavioral Health, the sole behavioral health Medicaid managed care organization serving Philadelphians with Medicaid, and the Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services, where she is leading projects on data-driven suicide prevention and the differential effects of pharmacological and nonpharmacological treatments for opioid use disorder.
Jessica Fishman, PhD, is a behavioral scientist with a joint appointment at the Perelman School of Medicine and the Annenberg School at the University of Pennsylvania. She is the Director of the Message Effects Lab, which helps teams scientifically develop interventions that positively influence decisions and behavior. She is also the Director of the Behavioral Vaccination Initiatives at the Penn Institute for RNA Innovation and an affiliated faculty member with the Center for Health Incentives and Behavior Economics, a Fellow at the Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, and a Distinguished Research Fellow at the Annenberg Public Policy Center. She was a founding director of the Outcomes Measurement and Methods Core within the School of Medicine. She received degrees from Stanford University (with university honors and departmental distinction) and the University of Pennsylvania.
To increase the use of evidence-based practices by patients and providers, Dr. Fishman studies decision making and behavior change in the context of implementation science, behavioral economics, social psychology and communication effects. Using validated causal models of behavior, she applies qualitative and quantitative methods to identify and influence the modifiable, multi-level determinants of behavioral intention and behavior. She also volunteers with Girls on the Go, a nonprofit, tax-deductible Section 501(c)(3) charity dedicated to providing students living in homeless shelters with free period products. Many adolescents cannot afford these items and when this basic need is not met, they miss school and work. Their education and finances suffer. We support their menstrual cycles to help break the cycle of poverty.
Dr. Jamison is an Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. Her research focuses specifically on peer-to-peer models for parents of children with mental health needs. She is also a licensed psychologist and works with youth with anxiety and related disorders at the Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer. Dr. Jamison completed her PhD at the University of Texas at Austin in their School Psychology program, her predoctoral internship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and postdoctoral fellowship at the Penn Center for Mental Health.
David Mandell, ScD
Professor and Director, Penn Center for Mental Health; Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Email David Mandell, ScD (215) 573-7494
Professor and Director, Penn Center for Mental Health; Vice Chair for Faculty Development, Department of Psychiatry, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine david.mandell@pennmedicine.upenn.edu (215) 573-7494
Dr. Mandell is the Kenneth E. Appel Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. He is trained as a psychiatric epidemiologist and mental health services researcher. The goal of his research is to improve the quality of care individuals with psychiatric and developmental disabilities receive in their communities, with a particular focus on people with autism. This research is of two types. The first examines, at the state and national level, the effects of different strategies to organize, finance and deliver services on service use patterns and outcomes. The second consists of experimental studies designed to determine the best strategies to successfully implement proven-efficacious practices in community settings. Dr. Mandell holds a bachelor of arts in psychology from Columbia University and a doctorate of science from the Johns Hopkins School of Hygiene and Public Health.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Penn ALACRITY: Transforming Mental Health Care Delivery through Behavioral Economics and Implementation Science
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This interdisciplinary center conducts research at the intersection of behavioral economics and implementation science in pursuit of improving mental health service delivery. The center contains three projects that use behavioral economics approaches to implement evidence-based practices. Project 1 leverages decision-making biases to compare ways to incentivize adherence to anti- depressant medications in the first six weeks of treatment among adults newly diagnosed with depression. Project 2 applies normative pressure and social status to increase data collection among community mental health workers treating children with autism. Project 3 explores how behavioral economics can be used to design behavioral-economics based implementation strategies that target administrators whose agencies are using evidence-based practices. The projects are supported by a Methods Core that provides expertise in implementation science, behavioral economics, stakeholder engagement, participatory design, measurement, and associated statistical approaches.
Role: Principal Investigator, with Rinad Beidas and Kevin Volpp Funder: NIMH Mechanism: P50
Autism Intervention Research - Behavioral
This multi-site trial (UCLA, University of Rochester, UC Davis, University of Pennsylvania) will test two interventions to improve care among under-resourced families of children with autism. The first will help newly diagnosed children and their families quickly access services. The second will assist children and youth successfully transition from preschool to kindergarten and from middle school to high school by developing tools to connect families, staff from the sending school, and staff from the receiving school.
Role: Site Principal Investigator Funder: Health Resources and Services Research Funder: NIH Learn more: airbnetwork.org
The Whole Health Study Collaborative Care for OUD and Mental Health Conditions
This study will refine and rigorously test a collaborative care model for patients with opioid use disorder (OUD) and major depression, post-traumatic stress disorder, or an anxiety disorder in primary care. We also will examine clinician and practice characteristics associated with successful implementation and the cost effectiveness of different care models. The primary aims of this proposal are: (1) Rapidly prototype and test each element of our collaborative care models to optimize it for implementation; (2) Conduct a randomized study of three collaborative care conditions with 1185 patients with OUD and a psychiatric disorder to determine which is most effective in improving outcomes: (a) Augmented Usual Care: PCP waivered to prescribe buprenorphine and mental health care manager, (b) Collaborative Care: Waiver PCP; mental health care manager receives OUD training; practice receives telephonic psychiatric consultation, or (c) Collaborative Care + a Certified Recovery Specialist to increase engagement and retention; (3) Measure clinician and organizational-level factors associated with implementation of each component, with the goal of developing strategies to increase successful implementation; and (4) Conduct a cost evaluation of each collaborative care model. Successful completion of the proposed study will provide definitive evidence regarding the most parsimonious set of elements of integrated collaborative care required to maximize outcomes for individuals with OUD and psychiatric disorders. Because of the study design, our examination of implementation factors, and our community partnerships, the results also will have high probability of adoption and implementation.
Role: Principal Investigator
Funder: NIH
The Academc-Community Experience: A Postdoctoral Training Fellowship in Implementation Science to Improve Mental Health
This T32 represents a one-of-kind interdisciplinary training program at the intersection of implementation science and mental health at the University of Pennsylvania. The fellowship provides unique opportunities to embed postdoctoral trainees in the settings in which they hope to conduct implementation research. The T32: (1) exposes postdoctoral fellows to foundational and cutting edge didactic training in implementation science and other related disciplines, a monthly seminar on implementation science, and electives as needed; (2) provides mentorship that includes Penn faculty and a leader at a community agency; and (3) embed trainees at a community site to develop and conduct a small implementation project in partnership with stakeholders.
Role: Principal Investigator, with Rinad Beidas Funder: National Institute of Mental Health
Role: Site Principal Investigator Funder: Health Resources and Services Research Funder: NIH
Dr. Steven Marcus is an epidemiologist, statistician, computer scientist, and a mental health services researcher studying the outcomes, quality of care, and pharmacoepidemiology of patients with serious mental disorders. He also has a strong interest in the field of mental health patient safety where he examines the epidemiology, cause, and prevention of medical errors in psychiatry. His work has focused on designing, implementing, and analyzing results of a broad range of field research studies. Additionally, he analyzes large claims databases (pharmacy claims, Medicaid, private insurance), hospital discharge datasets, public use survey data, and smaller proprietary research databases to answer important national policy questions related to mental health quality of care and service use. He has served as a Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator on dozens of NIH funded grants. His research has led to hundreds of scholarly publications in leading academic journals.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Improving the Emergency Department Management of Deliberate Self Harm
The study will inform efforts to address deficiencies in the emergency management of deliberate self-harm by testing whether access to five emergency services influences inpatient admission, timely outpatient mental health care, short-term risk of repeated self-harm and suicide.
Freya Nezir, PhD is a Research Associate Professor in the Center for Mental Health at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Nezir’s main interest is in the economic evaluation of health services, policy and practice. She has studied patterns of organization, financing, and delivery of health care services to persons with psychiatric and developmental disabilities with a focus on better understanding the economic consequences of mental and developmental disabilities on families, public and private health care service sectors, and society. She has conducted studies on children with autism, examining determinants of their service use and costs, and their societal and familial economic impacts.
Her current work focuses on the economic evaluation of initiatives to implement evidence-based practices, incorporating economic analysis into implementation science studies, and developing pragmatic and efficient methods for tracking implementation activities to enable economic evaluation. She is a co-investigator on numerous research grants from the NIH and other research foundations examining the effectiveness, cost, and implementation of health care interventions.
Heather Joy Nuske, PhD is a Research Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Penn Center for Mental Health, University of Pennsylvania, Director of JoyLab and the Digital Mental Health @ Penn working group, and a Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) School-Based Consultant. Dr. Nuske is an applied psychology researcher focused on child development, child positive mental health, autism interventions, wellbeing and mind-body science, social and emotional learning programs, and digital mental health.
Dr. Nuske’s research is dedicated to advancing evidence-based practices that promote wellbeing, learning, and positive developmental outcomes for individuals on the autism spectrum and students in inclusive educational settings. A newer area of her research examines how students’ engagement in learning opportunities and their subjective wellbeing blossom from shared moments of joy and positive emotional climates at school and at home, as well as the conditions that support these experiences. Other focus areas of Dr. Nuske’s research are inclusion and emotion regulation in children on the autism spectrum, intervention approaches such as social and emotional learning programs, mindfulness-based and mind-body approaches, and behavioral interventions, along with digital mental health technologies. Dr. Nuske uses community-partnered participatory research and user-centered design methods and conducts mixed-method randomized controlled trials to answer implementation- and efficacy/effectiveness-related questions about the interventions and digital mental health technologies.
Dr. Nuske has 7 years’ experience working as an Applied Behavioral Analysis therapist with children and adolescents on the autism spectrum. Her inspiration for this work comes from her three autistic brothers and her experiences raising two daughters. Dr. Nuske holds a Bachelor of Psychological Science with 1st class Honors and PhD in Psychological Science (Experimental/Developmental) from La Trobe University, Australia.
Inclusion+SEL Study: Increasing Inclusion of Autistic Students in Elementary School
In this study we are testing whether the combination of an inclusive educational practices (the Working toward INclusion or WIN program) with a social and emotional learning (SEL) program (the Zones of Regulation), may have synergistic effects in increasing inclusion of students on the autism spectrum in general education classrooms. We are also interested in the impact of these programs on emotion regulation and social connections, whether they have an influence on mental health and quality of life, as well as whether a positive classroom climate leads to better outcomes.
KeepCalm App: Supporting Emotion Regulation in Children with Autism
Three significant barriers limit current approaches to managing challenging behaviors in children with autism: 1) triggers of emotion dysregulation may go undetected without specialized training because children with autism often have difficulty with emotion expression; 2) teachers must attend to multiple, concurrent demands and may not recall the emotion regulation strategies to be used in the moment of crisis, and; 3) teachers may not have training/time to analyze data on the most effective emotion regulation strategies for each child so that they can make informed decisions regarding future intervention programming. Our KeepCalm app is designed to address these barriers by: 1) communicating children’s stress to their teachers using heart rate signaling; 2) supporting implementation of emotion regulation strategies via smartphone pop-up notifications of top strategies for each child, and 3) easing the burden of tracking outcomes by providing the child’s education team with a tool to track the most effective emotion regulation strategies for that child. Every step of the KeepCalm app development process is in partnership with educators and families of children with autism.
Funder: National Institute of Mental Health, Autism Science Foundation, McMorris Autism Initiative
Mechanism: K01, Pilot Awards
Footsteps App: Improving Progress Monitoring on Youth Behavioral Health Programs
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Youth with significant behavioral health needs make more clinical progress when their treatment planning is informed by ongoing quantitative data collection/progress monitoring; however, aides often do not collect high quality data consistent with evidence-based practice. This R01 uses a randomized hybrid type 2 effectiveness-implementation pragmatic mixed-methods trial design to test a behavioral-economics informed digital health measurement feedback application (Footsteps) to improve implementation of data collection quality and youth mental health outcomes. This will be one of the first studies to examine the effect of theory-informed behavior change mechanisms on data collection in behavioral health care and will advance the science of digital health as a support to practitioners in implementing behavioral health evidence-based practices.
Kelsie Okamura (she/her) is an Instructor of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine Center for Mental Health, a licensed psychologist, and board certified in Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology. She received her BA in Psychology with Honors and PhD from the University of Hawai‘i at Mānoa. Dr. Okamura completed her predoctoral internship at I Ola Lāhui Rural Hawai‘i Behavioral Health and postdoc at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Mental Health. Dr. Okamura was both an NIMH Child Intervention, Prevention and Services (CHIPS) and Training in Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health (TIDIRH) fellow. Dr. Okamura is passionate about community-based public-sector service system implementation, particularly (a) knowledge formation within systems, (b) quality improvement initiatives that bridge team-based technology, and (c) youth participatory action research. She is currently funded through the National Institute on Drug Abuse and has received funding through the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, National Institute for General Medical Services, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and American Psychological Foundation. As a fourth-generation daughter of Japanese and Okinawan immigrants to Hawaiʻi, Dr. Okamura has a deep appreciation of understanding diversity, culture, and contexts as they apply to youth mental health implementation. Growing up in a rural town in Oʻahu, Hawaiʻi has afforded her insight into the complexities of socioeconomic and cultural barriers that may impede successful implementation of youth psychosocial interventions.
Projects:
Mohala na pua ui i ka wai o na kuahiwi: Hoʻouna Pono Implementation
The Mohala Na Pua project leverages the Hoʻouna Pono curriculum, a culturally grounded, teacher delivered, substance use prevention intervention for middle school youth. Hoʻouna Pono was developed on Hawaiʻi Island and has being updated for e-cigarrette/vape use by our partners at the University of Hawai‘i Cancer Center. The Mohala Na Pua project, in partnership with the Hawai‘i Department of Education and Compassionate Ko'olau, integrates design sprints to create community-led implementation strategies to spread Ho‘ouna Pono to the Windward District of O‘ahu.
Funder: National Institute on Drug Abuse (DP1 DA016311), National Institute of General Medical Sciences (U54 GM138062)
Implementation Intermediary Program Evaluation
The Baker Center Quality Care Initiative is an implementation intermediary that supports therapists' and organizations' adoption of youth evidence-based treatments. Our goal is to synthesize agency, therapist, and youth outcome variables across implementation initiatives across the United States to answer multilevel questions around youth evidence-based practice implementation.
University Partners: University of Oregon (Alayna Park), University of Iowa (Yanchen Zhang), University of Pennsylvania (Courtney Wolk), Loma Linda University (Maya Boustani), Arizona State University (Joanna Kim)
Papa Ola Lokahi Maui State Emergency Response Grant (SERG)
In the wake of the tragic Maui wildfires, the State of Hawaii received funding to support the behavioral health needs of fire victims and survivors. An intermediary model was adopted to streamline the process to getting funds directly to Maui community providers. This participatory evaluation will determine the effectiveness of the intermediary model, lessons learned, and produce recommendations for long-term behavioral health sustainment and disaster preparedness.
Dr. Pellecchia is an Assistant Professor of Psychology in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She is a licensed clinical psychologist, Nationally Certified School Psychologist, and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Pellecchia’s clinical and research interests lie in improving the implementation of evidence-based interventions for young children on the autism spectrum in under-served communities. Dr. Pellecchia’s research is focused on partnering with community-stakeholders to develop implementation strategies that are feasible, sustainable, and appropriate for use in community settings, and that increase the use of evidence-based intervention strategies. She is the recent recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), the highest honor bestowed by the U.S. government on scientists and engineers, for her research conducted in partnership with the Philadelphia Infant and Toddler Early Intervention system focused on improving the widespread implementation of caregiver-mediated interventions for young children in Philadelphia.
Dr. Pellecchia received her BS in Psychology from St. Joseph’s University. She completed an MSEd in Applied Behavior Analysis and later a PhD in School Psychology from Temple University.
CURRENT PROJECTS
PEACE for ImPACT Study
The PEACE for ImPACT study is large scale Hybrid Type 3 Implementation-Effectiveness trial evaluating the effectiveness of tiered levels of implementation support in improving the use of caregiver coaching with families of young children who receive publicly funded early intervention services. This project is being conducted in partnership with the Philadelphia Infant and Toddler Early Intervention system, (which serves children 0-3 years old) and Elwyn Early Learning Services (which serves children 3-5 years old). The study will enroll 200 early intervention providers and 400 children and families who receive early intervention services over five years. The research team will use a SMART design to evaluate the efficacy of tiered levels of implementation support at increasing provider's caregiver coaching fidelity. Learn more about this project here: https://ies.ed.gov/funding/grantsearch/details.asp?ID=5902
Role: Principal Investigator
Funder: Institute of Education Sciences
Autism Intervention Research for Behavioral Health: III - Mind the Gap Project
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This study aims to address the critical need to increase access to care for under-resourced children with ASD and their families. Focus groups and interviews with parents of low-income, minority children with ASD across four different sites (UCLA, UC Davis, U Penn, and U Rochester) were used to better understand the challenges, barriers, and needs related to accessing services for children with ASD in the community. These data, paired with a Community-Partnered Participatory Research approach, led to the development of an intervention to help families initiate services, increase engagement and advocate for their child. The intervention is currently being evaluated through a randomized trial across all four sites. Dr. Pellecchia leads the Mind the Gap study for the University of Pennsylvania site. Learn more: airbnetwork.org/mind_gap.asp
Role: Co-Investigator
Funder: Health Resources and Services Administration
Young Child Clinic at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia
The Young Child Clinic is housed in the Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry and Behavioral Health Sciences at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. The Young Child Clinic offers comprehensive evaluations and an array of evidence-based treatments to children under five years of age with behavioral health concerns. Dr. Pellecchia provides direct clinical care to patients through the Young Child Clinic. Her clinical approach involves the use of short-term targeted caregiver coaching for families of young children on the autism spectrum focused on enhancing the child’s social-communication and engagement during interactions with their caregivers.
Role: Psychologist
Hall Mercer Community Mental Health Center Early Childhood Program
The Early Childhood Program at Hall Mercer Community Mental Health Center is a joint venture between the Center for Mental Health and Hall Mercer aimed at delivering high quality treatment to preschool-aged children with autism spectrum and related disorders. The Early Childhood program uses naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions to address the core features of autism spectrum disorder. Intervention is delivered in a small group format and emphasizes developing functional and social communication skills, play skills, and participation in classroom routines and activities. Each child’s interests and motivation serve as the platform for intervention delivered in an environment rich with opportunities for engagement.
Dr. Rump is a clinical psychologist at the Penn Center for Mental Health. She directs the Penn Medicine Autism Clinic in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania, where she conducts diagnostic evaluations and treatment planning for autistic children, adolescents, and adults. Dr. Rump also serves as the Associate Director for the predoctoral Psychology Internship in the Department of Psychiatry. In addition, she coordinates clinical training and provides clinical supervision and consultation for several of the autism-related research projects within CMH. Dr. Rump’s professional interests include improving access to appropriate, quality, evidence-based interventions for autistic individuals. She takes a neurodiversity-affirming approach in her clinical practice, and she is committed to addressing neurodiversity-affirming care in her teaching. Dr. Rump also has a strong interest in initiatives relevant to diversity, equity, and inclusion. Dr. Rump received her PhD in clinical and developmental psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. She completed her clinical internship at the Mailman Center for Child Development at the University of Miami School of Medicine, and her fellowship at the Center for Autism Research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.
The Penn Medicine Autism Clinic serves individuals from 12 months of age through adulthood and provides initial diagnostic assessments as well as comprehensive behavioral/psychological evaluations for patients with prior autism spectrum disorder (ASD) diagnoses. Our mission is to use gold standard assessment tools, in conjunction with family-centered care, to facilitate parents’ understanding of their child’s unique developmental/behavioral profile and how that relates to the child’s intervention/educational needs. Families are then connected directly to quality, evidence-based intervention that is most appropriate for their children.
Dr. Stewart is a licensed clinical psychologist and an Assistant Professor at the Penn Center for Mental Health. She received her B.A. from Princeton University and her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Stewart studies why substance use and mental health treatment agencies don’t adopt evidence-based practices (EBPs), with the goal of identifying and testing strategies to increase adoption and enhance implementation. Dr. Stewart uses qualitative and quantitative methods to study these issues. Currently, she has a K23 from NIDA to examine agency responses to the Philadelphia 2020 mandate that substance use organizations must be able to provide medication-assisted treatment for individuals with opioid use disorder.
Dr. Stewart is also interested in the effects of financial and other incentives to increase the use of EBPs in the community. In partnership with Community Behavioral Health, the Medicaid payer for behavioral health services in Philadelphia, she has evaluated several novel services and payment models intended to improve access to care.
She has previously conducted NIMH-funded work to both investigate the payer role and examine provider and practitioner attitudes towards the implementation of EBPs in the public and private sectors. Most recently she has identified the value of crowdsourcing to identify strategies to increase the use of EBPs.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Project MOTIVATE (ALACRITY)
Crowdsourcing clinicians and using participatory design to develop behavioral economically-informed implementation strategies to accelerate evidence-base practice implementation in behavioral health.
Role: Project Director Funder: NIH Mechanism: P50MH113840
Increasing the Uptake of Medication-assisted Treatment for Opioid Use Disorder
The ultimate goal of this project is to enhance the provision of medication-assisted treatment (MAT) for opioid use disorder in the public sector and understanding factors that influence effective uptake and implementation of MAT in the community
Shana D. Stites, PsyD, MA, MS, is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. As a clinical psychologist and researcher with the Penn Project on Precision Medicine for the Brain (P3MB), Dr. Stites’ research focuses on advancing diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease dementia. The goal is to understand ways to promote quality of life and psychological wellbeing. This includes understanding the impacts of the disease on individuals who may be directly affected by pathology as well as their family members. As part of this work, Dr. Stites has a special focus on better understanding how aspects of identity, such as age, gender, and race, operate as determinants in the disease experience. Understanding these features of the disease experience may offer insights into disease-mechanisms and into development of interventions that help limit burdens of the disease.
Dr. Stites is a graduate of the National Institute on Aging’s (NIA’s) Butler-Williams Scholars Program, has a master’s of arts in sociology from Lehigh University, and earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from Chestnut Hill College with a concentration in psychological assessment and special focus on the role of multicultural diversity in clinical practice and representation in research. Dr. Stites clinical training includes completion of a doctoral internship at Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia, PA and post-doctoral training in the Penn Memory Center and Department of Neurology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Perelman School of Medicine.
Dr. Stockton is a social epidemiologist and assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Pennsylvania. Her research focuses on the intersection of mental health, HIV, and stigma. She is an expert in stigma-reduction research whose work focuses on implementing and evaluating evidence-based interventions that both address stigma and deliver high-quality psychological care in low-resource settings. She is based in Lilongwe Malawi, where she currently leads research on stigma-reduction and suicide prevention as part of mental health programming for people living with HIV.
CURRENT PROJECTS
Improving HIV and Depression Outcomes by Reducing HIV-Mental Illness Stigma in Malawi: A Pilot Effectiveness-implementation
Goals: To link depressed people living with HIV to depression care augmented with stigma-reduction counseling and evaluate the intervention in a hybrid effectiveness-implementational pilot trial.
Suicide Assessment and Feasible Evidence-based Treatments for Youth Living with HIV: SAFETY Planning
Goals: To adapt an evidence-based suicide prevention intervention for adolescents living with HIV in Malawi and evaluate the preliminary efficacy and implementation in a hybrid pilot trial
The Association Between Stigma and Wellbeing among Kaposi sarcoma and Lymphoma Patients in Malawi
Goals: To measure cancer and HIV stigma among patients with Kaposi sarcoma and lymphoma and estimate the association between these stigma and health and wellbeing.
Courtney Benjamin Wolk, PhD, is an Associate Professor of Psychiatry at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine; the Associate Director of the Penn Center for Mental Health in the Department of Psychiatry; and the Executive Director of the Penn Implementation Science Center (PISCE). She is a licensed clinical psychologist and an implementation scientist.
The long-term goal of her research is to develop and evaluate strategies to promote the uptake of evidence-based care into routine practice, with the ultimate goal of improving the effectiveness of mental health services for children and adults in non-specialty mental health settings. Her NIH and AHRQ funded research has focused on improving access to and implementation of evidence-based mental health services across a variety of contexts (e.g., schools, primary care). Dr. Wolk also regularly collaborates with other investigators who are interested in applying implementation science methods in their research, and works directly with systems of care to support their integration of mental health services and team processes.
Clinically, Dr. Wolk’s expertise is in the cognitive-behavioral treatment of anxiety disorders in youth and she is licensed as a clinical psychologist in Pennsylvania. She has experience training community and school-based therapists in CBT interventions for a variety of presenting problems and populations.
Dr. Wolk received her BA in Psychology from The Ohio State University. She completed both her MA and PhD in Clinical Psychology at Temple University where she focused on the development and evaluation of cognitive-behavioral therapies (CBT) for child and adolescent anxiety. She completed an APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship in Clinical Psychology at Children’s National Medical Center in Washington, DC.
Dr. Worley is an Assistant Professor in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. She is a licensed clinical psychologist and Board Certified Behavior Analyst. Dr. Worley earned her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Louisiana State University. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Kennedy Krieger Institute and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and a postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Autism Research at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her professional interests center on enhancing community access to evidence-based assessments and interventions for individuals with developmental disabilities. Additionally, she is committed to developing and sustaining community partnerships that improve the quality and continuity of mental and behavioral health services for autistic individuals within community-based settings.
Active Projects:
Philly Autism Instructional Methods Support (Philly AIMS)
Philly AIMS is dedicated to improving the quality of education & behavioral health services for children with autism by moving research into practice. Philly AIMS was established in 2008 with funding from the National Institute of Mental Health and the U.S. Department of Education to conduct a randomized controlled trial of autism-specific interventions, which was, at the time, the largest study of an educational intervention for children with autism, and the first to be conducted as a partnership between a university and a school district. Our team of coaches provide classroom-based consultation to autism support teachers, school-wide consultation on inclusive practices to general education teachers and administrators, and develop and maintain a library of eLearning courses on evidence-based practices for autistic students.
The Autism Assessment Clinic at PATCH (Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall-Mercer)
PATCH, a specialty clinic that assesses and treats children and adolescents with anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), tics, and trichotillomania, is a joint venture between the Center for Mental Health at the University of Pennsylvania and Hall Mercer Community Behavioral Health In 2024, PATCH expanded is services to offer evaluations for anxious youth suspected of having co-occurring diagnoses of autism. Dr. Worley provides direct clinical care by conducting autism evaluations for individuals ages 2 – 21 years.
The Armellino Center of Excellence for Williams Syndrome (ACE for WS)
ACE for WS was established in 2022 to advance research and bridge the gap between pediatric and adult care for individuals with Williams syndrome. The medical and behavioral health teams provide comprehensive and collaborative multidisciplinary services for individuals throughout the lifespan. Dr. Worley is a provider on the adult behavioral health team.
Dr. Ahmad is a T32 postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Mental Health, where he is mentored by Drs. David Mandell, Melissa Stockton, and Emily Becker-Haimes. He received his Ph.D. in clinical psychology with a concentration in quantitative psychology from the University of Miami and completed his predoctoral internship at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center in Philadelphia.
Dr. Ahmad’s research focuses on cultural and religious/spiritual factors that influence mental health and its care—including access, engagement, and outcomes—particularly among underserved and at-risk populations in the U.S. and globally. His work has examined mental health stigma and help-seeking attitudes, scale development and validation, community-based psychoeducation, and the cultural and spiritual adaptation of evidence-based treatments.
As an implementation science fellow, Dr. Ahmad is leading efforts to implement and evaluate a collaborative care and partnership model between faith communities and mental health clinics, known as Community Outreach and Professional Engagement (COPE). He also collaborates on Dr. Stockton’s research on stigma and depression among people living with HIV in Malawi and Dr. Becker-Haimes’ research on optimizing the delivery of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in community settings using novel technologies.
Dr. Ahmad’s clinical interests include post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). He is an expert in Muslim mental health, serves as Chair of the Islamic Society of North America’s (ISNA) Mental Health Initiative, and leads the Spiritual and Religious Issues in Behavior Change Special Interest Group at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT).
Dr. Carey is a T32 postdoctoral fellow at the Center for Mental Health. She is doctorally trained as an epidemiologist and health services researcher. Her research leverages advanced quantitative methods and large secondary data sources to improve health policy and healthcare for individuals with disabilities, particularly Autistic individuals. Much of this research is focused on the unmet mental health service needs of Medicaid enrollees. Dr. Carey completed her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Delaware and her Master of Science and Doctor of Philosophy from Dornsife School of Public Health, Drexel University.
Joniqua is a postdoctoral fellow in the National Clinician Scholars Program at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and a primary care attending physician at Karabots Pediatric Care Center at CHOP. Joniqua is originally from Houston, Texas and is a graduate of Baylor College of Medicine. She completed a pre-doctoral training fellowship at the National Heart Lung and Blood institute within the National Institutes of Health. Additionally, she completed her internal medicine and pediatrics training at the Johns Hopkins Urban Health Residency Program, with a focus on social determinants of health and primary care.
She hopes to practice as a community primary care physician who empowers historically oppressed people and neighborhoods by partnering in community-engaged research to examine how the built environment and climate change influence chronic disease and health behaviors. She aims to pursue advocacy-informed research that facilitates evidence-based policies rooted in racial, environmental and economic justice to build healthy, climate-resilient communities.
Giulietta Flaherty, PsyD is a member of the Brodkin Lab. Giulietta received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from The College of New Jersey, and her doctorate in School Psychology from Rutgers University’s Graduate School of Applied and Professional Psychology. Giulietta has a passion for supporting adults with neurodevelopmental disabilities and has over eight years of experience working with this community in academic, vocational, and residential settings. Giulietta’s current research focuses on TUNE In, a cognitive behavioral and mindfulness-based program that teaches autistic adults how to use skills of attunement to navigate social interactions.
Anika Khan PhD is a postdoctoral fellow completing a clinical postdoctoral fellowship under the mentorship of Dr. Emily Becker-Haimes. She earned her BS in Psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and her PhD in Clinical Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She completed her predoctoral internship at SUNY Upstate Medical Hospital. Her research and clinical work focus on examining the effects of childhood adversity on the development of internalizing and externalizing disorders. She has experience in providing cognitive behavioral therapy to address anxiety, OCD and related disorders as well as in family work, working with disordered eating and practice in addressing anxiety symptoms which may be exacerbating medical concerns (e.g. GI distress).
Colleen Maxwell, PhD is a postdoctoral fellow working under the mentorship of Dr. Courtney Benjamin Wolk and Dr. Emily Becker-Haimes. She earned her BA in Psychology and Spanish at Saint Louis University and her PhD in Clinical Psychology at Temple University. She completed her predoctoral internship at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. Her research focuses broadly on the implementation and evaluation of evidence-based mental health services for youth and families from traditionally underserved backgrounds. Dr. Maxwell serves as member of the research team implementing the BRIDGE model for mental health clinician consultation to teachers in Philadelphia public schools. She has clinical expertise in pediatric anxiety and OCD and she enjoys applying these treatment principles to support youth with chronic pain, somatic symptoms, and functional disorders.
Dr. Parisi is a postdoctoral fellow under the guidance of Drs. Molly Candon and Rebecca Stewart. With a strong foundation in epidemiology, her expertise spans substance use, infectious diseases, and clinical and translational science. She is particularly focused on implementing evidence-based practices (EBPs) in mental health settings and evaluating the effectiveness of existing programs and interventions. Currently, in collaboration with Community Behavioral Health, she is assessing the impact of crisis response and behavioral health assessment centers in Philadelphia on subsequent mental health service utilization and health outcomes. Additionally, Dr. Parisi is engaged in a mixed-methods evaluation of patient and provider satisfaction with telehealth services in mental healthcare. She earned her undergraduate degree from the University of Maryland, her MPH from the Yale School of Public Health, and her PhD from the University of Florida.
“Dr. Rushworth is a postdoctoral fellow with the Center for Mental Health. She earned her PhD in School Psychology at Temple University after completing her MS in School Psychology at Eastern Illinois University. Dr. Rushworth completed her APA-accredited pre-doctoral internship at Sarah Reed Children’s Center, focusing on outpatient behavioral health, trauma-informed care, and school-based consultation.
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Dr. Rushworth’s professional interests include collaboration with under-resourced schools, communities, and families, school-based consultation, academic mentorship, and implementation of evidence-based interventions with consideration of culture, structural inequity, and trauma. Dr. Rushworth also has experience in data analysis, primarily the use of multivariate and measurement statistics for improving equitable measurement of social-emotional constructs. Presently, she is working under Dr. Courtney Benjamin Wolk on the BRIDGE and TeamSTEPPS projects.
Current Projects:
BRIDGE: BRIDGE was developed by Dr. Elise Cappella of NYU and colleagues, integrating teacher consultation and mental health models into a school-based consultation framework. BRIDGE was designed to support under-resourced schools in urban areas. Our team is partnering with Community Behavioral Health to bring BRIDGE to the School District of Philadelphia. Through BRIDGE training, coaching and collaboration, behavior consultants are empowered to provide teachers with targeted and class-wide interventions to suit the academic and behavioral needs of students. Our team is comprised of clinical and school psychologists, behavior analysts, and counselors with experience in implementing evidence-based practices.
TeamSTEPPS for School-Based Mental Health: This is a AHRQ-funded project (5R18HS026862-02) seeking to improve collaboration among school mental health teams by adapting a team training intervention from medical healthcare. TeamSTEPPS is designed to build competencies in leadership, situation monitoring, mutual support, and communication and has been associated with improvements in teamwork and communication as well as in patient outcomes. Through trainings, observations, and ongoing consultation, we take a participatory approach to collaboratively identify solutions to challenges in school-based mental health services based upon the feedback of stakeholders.
Dr. Diondra Straiton (she/her) is a Provost’s Postdoctoral Fellow working with Dr. David Mandell and Dr. Melanie Pellecchia. Dr. Straiton holds a PhD in clinical psychology from Michigan State University and completed her predoctoral internship in clinical psychology at the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Psychiatry. Dr. Straiton is passionate about leveraging implementation science to improve health equity for marginalized autistic youth by optimizing training for clinicians working in under-resourced settings. Most of this work focuses on caregiver coaching interventions and naturalistic developmental behavioral interventions (NDBIs), a class of autism interventions that have the potential to be more neurodiversity-affirming. As a postdoctoral fellow, Dr. Straiton is conducting research on optimizing group consultation for early intervention clinicians using human-centered design and behavioral skills training. She also supports to Dr. Pellecchia’s PEACE4ImPACT project, which is an adaptive trial of an implementation toolkit to support caregiver coaching in the Philadelphia early intervention system. Dr. Straiton has clinical expertise in working with neurodivergent and typically developing youth in under-resourced settings, including implementing caregiver-mediated NDBIs, cognitive-behavioral therapy, exposure therapy, and evidence-based practices in classroom settings. She has trained clinicians in a variety of publicly funded settings across the United States, Canada, and China.
Eleanor Turi, PhD, RN, CCRN is a postdoctoral fellow in the Center for Mental Health and in the National Clinician Scholars Program. Her research focuses on the nursing workforce and implementation of substance use disorder care in non-specialty mental health settings. She is passionate about health equity and improving care for underserved patients with substance use disorders. Dr. Turi received her bachelor’s degree at the University of Pittsburgh and her PhD at Columbia University.
Melanie Akinsola, M.Ed is a certified educator in early childhood education (K-4) and special education (K-8). Born and raised in Philadelphia, she has dedicated nearly 10 years educating children in the city’s low-income neighborhoods. Melanie has served as a teacher leader in her school communities and obtained her Master’s degree in Teacher Leadership in 2019 from Edinboro University of PA. Melanie joined the CMH team in 2024, providing school-based consultation to autism support teachers throughout the School District of Philadelphia.
As Business Administrator of CMH, Katrina works closely with the Manager of Admin and Finance and is responsible for the financial functions of the department. She oversees facilities, financial reconciliation, purchasing, payroll, and onboarding, among many other tasks that keep the Center running smoothly. In her free time, Katrina enjoys spending time with her family and reading. She is currently pursuing coursework in business administration.
Heather Aspero is a Certified Recovery Specialist supporting the Whole Health Study, led by Dr. David Mandell, Dr. Hillary Bogner, and Dr. Kyle Kampman, which focuses on the treatment of opioid use disorder and psychiatric disorders in a primary care setting. Heather has been a Recovery Specialist for the state of Pennsylvania since 2015. Prior to joining the center was working with individuals with Substance/Opioid use disorder in the community and in outpatient settings. Heather is passionate about Substance use, and Mental health care accessibility and continuing her education to further help others.Outside of Penn, Heather enjoys relaxing and spending time with her two children, friends, family, and pets.
Maxwell Atkinson is a Clinical Research Coordinator working on the Whole Health Study, led by Dr. David Mandell, Dr. Hillary Bogner, and Dr. Kyle Kampman, which tests the collaborative care model for patients with opioid use disorder and a coexisting psychiatric disorder in primary care. Max graduated with a B.A. in Biology from Wesleyan University in 2016. Previously, he worked as the Lead Case Manager in Prevention Point Philadelphia’s MOUD clinic from 2019-2021, providing accessible and compassionate treatment for opioid use disorder in a community outpatient setting. In his free time, Max enjoys cooking, gardening, backpacking, and playing piano.
Laura Balogh is an early intervention consultant at the University of Pennsylvania, where she trains providers on caregiver coaching techniques and caregiver-mediated interventions such as Project ImPACT. With 14 years of experience in Philadelphia's early intervention system, Laura has built a career focused on empowering caregivers with social-communication strategies that foster growth and development in children diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder and other developmental delays.
In addition to her work at the University, Laura works as a Lead Clinician at an early intervention agency and oversees the development of individualized intervention plans that use evidence-based practices, such as Applied Behavior Analysis and Naturalistic Developmental Behavioral Interventions to support children with autism and other developmental delays.
Laura Balogh is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and a Certified Project ImPACT trainer consultant, she is passionate about empowering caregivers with the skills and confidence to support their children's long-term progress.
Erica Blanch has worked at CMH since 2008, where she is currently the Associate Director. Erica manages a large portfolio of school-based research projects, clinical initiatives, and consultation contracts that engage hundreds of children, families, and teachers in Philadelphia every year. She partners closely with local agencies to promote strong collaboration between the University and community. Erica also leads the CMH executive committee in decisions related to growing the Center’s vast portfolio of activities related to the core mission of improving the lives of people affected by psychiatric and developmental disabilities. Erica has a Master of Science Degree in Education from the University of Pennsylvania and a Bachelor of Science degree from Temple University. She is certified in early childhood and elementary education with a focus on multicultural and urban education. Erica is interested in ways to improve how the family, school, and community work collaboratively to improve access to high quality care for traditionally underserved populations. Before joining the Center, Erica was involved in other educational research initiatives with the University of Pennsylvania, St. Joseph’s University, and The Free Library of Philadelphia.
Megan Brady is a Project Manager who works closely with Dr. Emily Becker-Haimes across several studies focused on mental health quality and implementation research. She also assists Dr. Becker-Haimes in her clinic, the Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall Mercer (PATCH). Megan received her MPH degree from the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to starting at CMH, Megan worked as a research technologist at the Penn State College of Medicine in Hershey, PA, focusing on underlying mechanisms of mood disorders. In addition to supporting research, she also is the Project Manager for the Penn Implementation Science Center (PISCE) and works closely with the Executive Director, Dr. Courtney Wolk.
Tara Calderbank is the Senior Certified Recovery Specialist (CRS) and Recovery Support Services Program Manager supporting the Whole Health Study, which focuses on the treatment of opioid use disorder and psychiatric disorders in the primary care setting; the study is led by Dr. David Mandell, Dr. Hillary Bogner, and Dr. Kyle Kampman. Before joining the Center, she worked as Recovery Support Services Manager for the Montgomery County chapter at The Council of Southeast Pennsylvania/PRO ACT supporting and overseeing a community-based program providing oversight and support to a team of professional peers. Tara is passionate about harm reduction and eliminating disparities that people who use drugs face when accessing healthcare and basic human services.
Hilary Cantiello is a Senior Research Coordinator and Project Manager for the Center for Mental Health, where she manages systems level evaluation projects and leads the Certified Older Adult Peer Specialist (COAPS) training institute. Before joining the Center, she worked in Prevention and Intervention for a co-occurring program for women and their children in West Philadelphia. She holds a Master’s of Liberal Arts from the University of Pennsylvania, where she focused on maternal and child health. She is interested in trauma informed care, peer delivered services and community health services.
Kennedy Chatman is a clinical research coordinator working on Project ACTIVE and Project CALMER, led by Dr. Emily Becker-Haimes. She also provides administrative support in Dr. Becker-Haimes’ clinic, the Pediatric Anxiety Treatment Center at Hall Mercer (PATCH). Kennedy graduated from Loyola University New Orleans with a B.S. in psychology, where she conducted research on factors associated with sexual revictimization. She is passionate about addressing stigma and systemic barriers to mental health care in historically marginalized populations.
Diana Cooney, MSED works at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research at the University of Pennsylvania. She works on school-based projects, providing classroom consultation to Autism Support teachers as well as, school level support on inclusive practices, in the School District of Philadelphia. Diana also is the clinical supervisor of autism social skills groups run at Hall Mercer. Diana’s area of expertise include social skills instruction and inclusive practices. She is passionate about improving the quality of inclusive education for children with autism and delivering services to under-served populations. Diana has worked in the field of autism for over 10 years, Diana has worked in many settings to provide evidence-based treatment to children ages 3 to 21 with autism and their families. She received her Master of Science degree in Education and Applied Behavior Analysis from Temple University in 2012. Diana also has experience working in early intervention and residential services.
Donna Coviello joined the Center for Mental Health in 2019 and is currently the project manager for Dr. David Mandell’s Whole Health Study evaluating a collaborative care model for patients with opioid use disorder and mental health conditions in primary care. Prior to joining the Center, she worked in the HIV/AIDS Prevention Research Division at Penn where she served as the project manager for a study assessing the effectiveness of a nurse health navigator intervention for individuals with HIV and comorbid psychiatric and substance use disorders. She received pilot funding from the Penn Mental Health AIDS Research Center (PMHARC) to assess the neurocognitive functioning of individuals with HIV and substance use disorders and served as the coordinator for the PMHARC Community Advisory Board. Donna also worked at the Center for Studies of Addiction where she studied patients with opioid and cocaine use disorders that included medication trials and behavior interventions. She also evaluated an employment intervention for individuals under criminal justice supervision attending drug treatment.
Samantha Crabbe is a Senior Research Coordinator and Project Manager at the Penn Center for Mental Health. She manages operations and maintains partnerships for multiple community based research projects, including Dr. Melanie Pellecchia’s PEACE for ImPACT study. Her interests center on parent’s engagement in their children’s services.
Prior to coming to the center she received her Masters in School and Mental Health Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania. She works part-time as a child and adolescent outpatient therapist at a community mental health agency in Philadelphia.
Tiffany DeMenna is a senior clinical research coordinator supporting the Whole Health Study, led by Dr. David Mandell, Dr. Hillary Bogner, and Dr. Kyle Kampman, which tests the collaborative care model for patients with opioid use disorder and a coexisting psychiatric disorder in primary care.
Tiffany graduated with a B.A. in Psychology and Criminal Justice at the University of Delaware in 2019. She is currently working on her Master of Science in Social Policy at the University of Pennsylvania. Prior to joining the CMH team, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant at The Center for Research in Education and Social Policy (CRESP) aiding research directed at the improvement and evaluation of programs in the fields of education, nutrition, and community health. Her professional interests focus on reforming criminal legal system and drug policy. In her free time, she enjoys baking and watching stand-up comedy.
Biiftu Duresso is a Clinical Research Coordinator at the Center for Mental Health supporting Dr. Courtney Benjamin Wolk’s TeamSTEPPS and BRIDGE projects. The TeamSTEPPS study aims to tailor and evaluate an evidence-based strategy to improve school-based mental health teams’ functioning. BRIDGE aims to bring a mental health consultation model to the School District of Philadelphia to support teachers’ implementation of strategies to support struggling students. Biiftu graduated from Barnard College with a Bachelor of Arts in Neuroscience and Behavior with a Cellular Concentration in 2019. She is passionate about developing and evaluating interventions in community-based settings to support the mental health of individuals from systematically oppressed backgrounds.
Latona English is the Grants Manager for the Center of Mental Health. She manages pre- and post-award activities for all private and federally funded research grants and gifts for Population Mental Health. Latona enjoys reading, volunteering, traveling internationally, and spending quality time with her friends, family, and cats Skylar and Mango.
Andrew Forrest, LCSW is a clinician for the Whole Health Study, which focuses on the treatment of opioid use disorder and psychiatric disorders in the primary care setting; the study is led by Dr. David Mandell, Dr. Hillary Bogner, and Dr. Kyle Kampman. Andrew completed his bachelors in sociology & anthropology at Swarthmore College and obtained a Masters of social work from Columbia University. Prior to joining the Center, he worked as a clinician and later as an Assistant Director for a supportive housing provider in New York City, where he oversaw the implementation of evidence-based practices. Through his past experience and education, Andrew has developed a holistic approach to health and mental wellness that takes into account the influence of sociocultural forces. Andrew is passionate about delivering non-judgmental and effective treatment that respects the dignity of his patients first and foremost.
Anne Futterer is a Research Coordinator supporting various projects at the Center. Anne received a B.A. in History from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2015, and a M.S. in Social Policy from the University of Pennsylvania in 2017. Her master’s studies focused on public health policy, and she is particularly interested in the intersections of gender and socioeconomic status with health.
Adam is a longtime research assistant that works on a variety of projects. He transcribes qualitative interviews and extensive data entry for projects/studies such as Engagement R21, Keep Calm, and AIMS. Additional duties of his include reviewing quality assurance reports for the Whole Health Study, composing training certificates under the AIMS study, and archiving past project documents. He earned his Bachelor’s in Political Science from Arcadia University in 2010.
Rima Kamel, MSEd is a clinical research coordinator working under the mentorship of Dr. Heather Nuske. She earned her BA in Psychology at the American University of Beirut and her MSEd in Education at the University of Pennsylvania. Her work centers on culturally responsive and trauma-informed interventions for children and adolescents, with a focus on inclusion, resilience, and equitable access to mental health and educational supports. She successfully led the KeepCalm project through a full randomized controlled trial and now coordinates three additional research initiatives— the SEL and Inclusion project, BlinkLab, and Footsteps—aimed at advancing evidence-based practices in schools and under-resourced communities. Ms. Kamel also brings clinical experience working with diverse youth populations, including those with autism, anxiety, trauma histories, and developmental challenges.
Meghan Kane is a Board Certified Behavior Analyst and has a master’s degree from Temple University’s applied behavior analysis program. Her professional interests are focused on providing high quality early intervention services to children with autism. Meghan’s current role with the center involves the role of Clinical Supervisor at Hall Mercer’s Early Childhood Program (ECP) and providing coaching to families for parent-mediated intervention. She also has experience with staff supervision and professional development for those working in the field of applied behavior analysis.
Carolyn Kuz is a Clinical Research Coordinator supporting Dr. Stites' research on the subjective experience of cognitive symptoms, social and structural determinants of health, and stigma as a barrier to well-being and early diagnosis in Alzheimer's disease dementia.
Carolyn graduated with a B.S. Honors in Biopsychology from Messiah University in 2022. Prior to joining CMH, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant in a PTSD animal lab exploring the effectiveness of opioids in reducing PTSD symptoms and severity. Her professional interests focus on developing interventions to support the mental and physical health of individuals with cognitive impairment due to injury or disease.
Karen Lim Phat is a Clinical Research Coordinator supporting the Whole Health Study, led by Dr. David Mandell, Dr. Hillary Bogner, and Dr. Kyle Kampman, which tests the collaborative care model for patients with opioid use disorder and a coexisting psychiatric disorder in primary care. Karen graduated with a B.S. in Psychology and Law at Drexel University in 2023. Prior to joining the CMH team, she worked as an undergraduate research assistant in the Driving After Concussion Study at the Center of Injury Prevention (CIRP), and the Mood and Anxiety Disorders Treatment and Research Program at the University of Pennsylvania. She is passionate about understanding how psychiatric disorders develop through individual’s lifespan and addressing the barriers to mental health care for children, adolescents, and parents in low-income communities. In her free time, she enjoys volunteering, reading, playing with her cats and trying new foods.
Rebecca Laconi is a Senior Clinical Research Coordinator working on the Whole Health Study, led by David Mandell, Hillary Bogner, and Kyle Kampman, which tests the collaborative care model for patients with opioid use disorder and a coexisting psychiatric disorder in primary care. She graduated with a B.S. in Clinical/Counseling Psychology from Kutztown University in 2016, and a M.A. in Psychology in 2020 from West Chester University. Prior to joining the HEAL Whole Health Study team, she worked as the Lab Coordinator/Research Assistant for the Developmental Science Lab at Temple University from 2016-2019. During her time in grad school, she worked under Dr. Michael Gawrysiak, who focuses on addiction and trauma. With his supervision, she worked on a Mindfulness-Based Relapse Prevention intervention at Gaudenzia, and completed her thesis, which examined whether parental drug use contributed to levels of addiction stigma in their children later in life.
Emily is a data analyst and programmer who provides analytical support for various research projects throughout the center. She uses statistical tools to examine data and help to form analytical plans, identifies valuable patterns in data through statistical modeling, and helps to prepare reports to communicate trends in large-scale healthcare data. Emily recently graduated from Temple University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Statistical Science & Data Analytics and a focus in Digital Marketing and Customer Data Analytics. Emily is interested in how different analyses and findings can help improve the quality of care and services in mental health care. In her free time, she enjoys running, reading, thrifting, and spending time with family and friends.
Zinnia is a certified special education teacher and board certified behavior analyst. Zinnia has a Master’s degree in special education from Temple University and graduate certificate in Behavior Analysis from Penn State University. Zinnia is a former autism support teacher with experience in elementary and middle schools. In 2010 Zinnia began working as a behavior analyst for children with autism providing ABA services in home and school settings. She joined the CMHPSR team in 2012 and has a special interest in school-based services for students with autism.
Samantha Shapiro is a Research Coordinator supporting multiple research projects at the Center, including Dr. Shari Jager-Hyman’s AASET-SP Study.
Sam received a B.A. in Politics from Princeton University in 2017. She is currently pursuing a Masters in School and Mental Health Counseling from the University of Pennsylvania. She interns part-time as a therapist at a community mental health agency in Philadelphia.
Lisa is a data analyst providing analytical support for various projects at the Center. Lisa started as an intern at the Center and officially joined the Center in 2015. She is currently working with both Primary data and Secondary data. She helps with devising data analysis plan, identifying data elements for questions related to quality of care, and applying various statistical models to healthcare issues. Lisa is interested in learning more about the application of machine learning in the healthcare field. She enjoys playing tennis, swimming, and skiing in her spare time.
John F. Skokowski, Jr. currently holds the position of Senior Care Coordinator for the Penn Medicine Autism Clinic. In this role he provides family support services for PMAC clients, engages in office management duties, and facilitates administrative tasks. John assists PMAC families to coordinate recommended treatment services and to advocate on their behalf with schools, providers, state agencies, and county intervention programs. John also works with in-network providers and insurance entities to help ensure that a high quality standard of patient care is being rendered. John earned his Master of Science degree with specialization in psychological services through the Graduate School of Education at The University of Pennsylvania. He also has a Bachelor of Science degree in psychology from Rutgers University. Prior to his joining the Penn Center for Mental Health team, John worked in community intensive outpatient clinic and school-based agencies for about 15 years, providing BHRS staff supervision and direct clinical treatment for children and adolescents.
Tia Tropea is a Clinical Research Coordinator for the Center for Mental Health, where she administratively supports evaluation projects through survey implementation and qualitative interviews. Before joining the Center, she worked as a research assistant in the Neuroeconomics Lab, conducting independent research projects on the interactions between neighborhood effects, cognitive decline, and vulnerability to financial exploitation. Tia is passionate about supporting research efforts that improve the quality of care for individuals facing mental health challenges. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with family and friends, reading the latest fiction novels, and playing piano.
Steven Wadden is a care manager on the Whole Health Study, which focuses on treating opioid use disorder within a collaborative care setting. He completed his Master’s degree in social work at the University of Pennsylvania in 2020 and is currently working towards his clinical license. Steven has experience providing supportive counseling and brief, evidence-based interventions for adult clients. He has worked in both inpatient rehabilitation and collaborative care settings. Steven is passionate about mental health care accessibility and is interested in the ways that collaborative care treatment models can be used to address disparities in the provision of mental health services. He enjoys reading and playing music in his free time.
Julia Waldman is a Lead Clinician at the Center for Mental Health Policy and Services Research at the University of Pennsylvania where she works with her clinical team to provide naturalistic developmental behavioral therapy services to under-served children with autism and other social and behavioral needs.
Julia has her master’s degree in Social Work and plans to earn her Board Certification in Behavior Analysis. Julia has experience providing ABA services to children with autism and other developmental disabilities in both school and home settings. She is interested in finding new and innovative ways to make access to autism services more equitable for all individuals and families in need of support.
Ming Xie has over 15 years of experience extracting meaningful data from large administrative claims databases such as Medicaid, Medicare and private insurance for statistical analysis using SAS and other data manipulation, analysis software/tools. She received her master’s degree in Applied Statistics from Villanova University in 2004.
Ainsley Buck is a clinical psychology graduate student working with Drs. David Mandell and Heather Nuske. She earned her B.S. in Neuroscience and a certificate in Child Policy Research from Duke University, where she became interested in bridging the gap between research and practice. Her research focuses on how this can be achieved through both on-the-ground service implementation and policy change, with a particular interest in the social-emotional wellbeing of autistic children. Her current work focuses on understanding how interventions that promote social-emotional wellbeing and inclusion in school settings can be feasibly and effectively implemented.
Alyssa Hernandez is a clinical psychology graduate student dedicated to improving quality of and accessibility to behavioral health services for neurodivergent children across regions, populations, and communities experiencing structural barriers to care. She takes an interdisciplinary approach to implementation science and values collaboration with community members to ensure research is both meaningful and actionable. Her work applies developmental economic approaches to strengthen behavioral health services, integrates cultural and contextual factors into intervention implementation, and tests system-level changes to promote equitable access to care. Alyssa is a Fontaine Fellow and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Health Policy Research Scholar, a national leadership program for PhD students committed to aligning research with community health needs. She earned her BS in Psychology with a minor in Biology from the University of Texas at Austin and is from the Rio Grande Valley, a U.S.-Mexico borderlands region. Advised by Drs. David Mandell and Melanie Pellecchia, Alyssa’s current research focuses on intervention implementation and fidelity in PEACE for ImPACT and Philly AIMS. She examines the social determinants of health and system-level factors associated with implementation and child/family outcomes.
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Read More about Emily M. Becker-Haimes, Ph.D.
Read More about Edward S. Brodkin, M.D.
Read More about Jessica Fishman, Ph.D.
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Read More about David Mandell, ScD
Read More about Steve Marcus, Ph.D.
Read More about Freya Nazir, Ph.D.
Read More about Heather J. Nuske, Ph.D. 1f42
Read More about Kelsie H. Okamura, PhD, ABPP
Read More about Melanie Pellecchia, Ph.D., BCBA, NCSP
Read More about Melissa Ann Stockton, Ph.D.
Read More about Courtney Benjamin Wolk, Ph.D.
Read More about Colleen Maxwell, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow
Read More about Christina E. Parisi, Ph.D., MPH
Read More about Diondra Straiton, Ph.D.
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Read More about Diana Cooney, MSEd
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Read More about Zinnia Piotrowski, MEd, BCBA
