UTORC Members

UTORC Member Information

Sierra Castedo de Martell, MPH

Sierra Castedo de Martell, MPH, is a doctoral student at the UTHealth School of Public Health Austin Regional Campus focusing on advancing the evidence base for recruiting, retaining and supporting the peer workforce, and the economic evaluation of key elements of recovery infrastructure. Ms. Castedo de Martell’s past professional experience in the addiction recovery field – first as the Director of the collegiate recovery program (CRP) at the University of Texas at Austin from 2014 to 2019, and as a Board of Directors member for the national professional organization for CRPs, the Association of Recovery in Higher Education, from 2016 to 2021 – has aided in the identification of critical gaps in the evidence base and the need for tools to aid in the implementation and evaluation of innovative and promising recovery programs. To that end, her research focuses on addressing key gaps related to workforce development and economic evaluation. Her past research includes conducting a comprehensive cost-effectiveness analysis of CRPs, and the development and dissemination of a cost-effectiveness calculator for CRPs, currently in use by CRP professionals and advocates across the US. Her current work has shifted to the peer workforce more broadly, where she brings both behavioral science and health economic approaches to address critical gaps in the recovery infrastructure evidence base.

Contact Information: Sierra.J.CastedodeMartell@uth.tmc.edu 

Namkee G. Choi, PhD

Namkee G. Choi, PhD, MSW, is Professor and Louis and Ann Wolens Centennial Chair in Gerontology in the University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Namkee’s areas of research include substance use in late life, opioid poisoning and cannabis misuse, in particular.  

Contact Information: nchoi@austin.utexas.edu 

Jessica Duncan Cance, MPH, PhD

Dr. Cance is a research public health analyst at RTI International, a nonprofit research institute, with over 20 years of experience in public health research and practice. Her work focuses on addressing substance misuse and associated consequences from a public health perspective. She has led and contributed to epidemiological research, program implementation and evaluation projects, and coalition building supported by state, federal, and foundation funding. Prior to joining RTI in 2019, she worked for 4 years in Texas Health and Human Services (HHSC and DSHS), providing technical assistance and contract oversight to community agencies providing substance use and misuse prevention programming, overseeing the analysis and dissemination of public health data to a diverse range of audiences, and serving as a subject matter expert in statewide trends in substance misuse and related harms.

Contact Information: jcance@rti.org 

Kasey Claborn, Ph.D.

Kasey Claborn, PhD, is the Steve Hicks Fellow in Addiction and Recovery Services with appointments in Psychiatry and Social Work. She is the Director for the Addictions Research Institute at The University of Texas at Austin. Dr. Claborn received her Doctoral degree inClinical Psychology from Oklahoma State University and completed her residency at the University of Florida Health Sciences Center. She completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies where she cross-trained in translational science for HIV and addiction. Her research is focused on the design and development of digital health technologies to improve the addiction system of care with a special focus on opioids. She has served as the Principal Investigator for several federal and state-funded studies grounded in transdisciplinary team science and engaging community, academic, and industry partners to develop health information and technology solutions in the addiction sector. Dr. Claborn has developed two robust digital platforms. One platform aims to improve care coordination across HIV and substance use treatment providers among high-risk dually diagnosed patients. The other platform aims to develop a data-driven response to overdose prevention efforts for Texas. This innovative work uses a community-engaged research approach to convene a multi-sectoral partnership of community, academic, and industry stakeholders. She recently received a Google Customer Award for innovation and social impact for this work. Dr. Claborn has experience in translating the technology products into the real world. She was selected into the 2016 national cohort for the NIH Training Institute in Dissemination and Implementation Research in Health. Additionally, she has been selected into competitive entrepreneurial training programs including the Texas Health Catalyst, NSF Regional iCorps, and the Association for Women in Science’s STEM to Market training program.

Contact Information: kasey.claborn@austin.utexas.edu

Fiona Conway, Ph.D. 

Fiona Conway is an Assistant Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work at The University of Texas at Austin. Her research primarily involves collaborations with biomedical scientists to investigate the relationships between behavioral health and human biology. She is particularly interested in the relationships between stress, cardiovascular processes, and substance use. Her work focuses on intervention and implementation science in the fields of addiction and mental health. She is currently involved in research projects that develop, test, and deliver technology-assisted interventions. Her interdisciplinary research seeks to facilitate the transfer of new and innovative scientific strategies to prevention specialists and treatment providers.

Contact Information: fiona.conway@austin.utexas.edu

M. Lynn Crimson, PharmD, FCCP, DABCP, BCPP

Behrens Centennial Professor of Pharmacy; Professor of Psychiatry

Contact Information: lynn.crismon@austin.utexas.edu

Diana DiNitto, Ph.D., ACSW, LCSW, AADC

Diana DiNitto is Cullen Trust Centennial Professor in Alcohol Studies and Education and Distinguished Teaching Professor at the University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Her current research focuses on substance use and related problems, especially co-occurring mental health problems, among older adults. She is currently co-principal investigator on two multidisciplinary projects funded by the Health Resources and Services Administration, one under its Opioid Workforce Expansion Program and one under its Behavioral Workforce Health Education and Training Program. She is a fellow of the American Academy of Social Work and Social Welfare and a board member of the Texas Research Society on Alcoholism.

Contact Information: ddinitto@mail.utexas.edu

Victoria M DeFrancesco Soto 

Victoria DeFrancesco Soto is assistant dean for civic engagement and a lecturer at the LBJ School of Public Affairs at The University of Texas at Austin, where she was selected as one of UT’s Game Changers. She is also a faculty affiliate of the Department of Mexican-American and Latino Studies and the Center for Mexican American Studies. In her research and teaching, Dr. DeFrancesco Soto brings an interdisciplinary lens to the understanding of American politics and policy. Her areas of expertise include immigration, women and politics, political psychology and campaigns and elections.

Contact Information: vmdsoto@austin.utexas.edu

Lauren Gaydosh 

Dr. Lauren Gaydosh is an Assistant Professor of Sociology, Research Associate at the Population Research Center, and Research Affiliate at the Center on Aging and Population Sciences at the University of Texas at Austin. Her primary research focuses on better understanding the role of early life environments in shaping health across the life course. This work integrates social, contextual, and biological data from population-based longitudinal studies to examine how inequalities in the social environment get under the skin to create health disparities. 

Contact Information: lauren.gaydosh@austin.utexas.edu

S. Scott Graham

S. Scott Graham is an associate professor in the Department of Rhetoric & Writing, an affiliate with the Center for Health Communication, and a member of the Health Informatics Research Interest Group at the University of Texas at Austin. He uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to study communication in bioscience, public health, and health policy. Dr. Graham has special interests in transdisciplinary and community-centered research around pain medicine and stigma reduction. His research has been supported by the National Endowment for the Humanities, the NSF’s Extreme Science and Engineering Discovery Environment (XSEDE), and the National Institutes of Health.

Contact Information: ssg@utexas.edu 

Diane B. Ginsburg

Diane B. Ginsburg, Ph.D., M.S., R.Ph., FASHP. Clinical Professor, Pharmacy Practice Division. Associate Dean for Healthcare Partnerships. G.D. Searle Endowed Fellow in Pharmacy.

Contact Information:diane.ginsburg@austin.utexas.edu

Lucas G. Hill, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP

Lucas G. Hill graduated from the University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Pharmacy and completed a combined family medicine residency and faculty development fellowship at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. He is now a clinical assistant professor at The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy where he serves as director of the Pharmacy Addictions Research & Medicine (PhARM) Program. Dr. Hill is the principal investigator for a five-year, $25 million Texas Targeted Opioid Response (TTOR) grant which seeks to address the opioid crisis in Texas by educating health professionals and the public while conducting pragmatic research. He currently serves as chair of the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy Substance Use Disorder Special Interest Group and is an editorial board member for the Journal of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. In 2020, Dr. Hill was awarded the American Pharmacists Association Generation Rx Award of Excellence in recognition of his outstanding contributions to addiction-related education.

Contact Information: lucas.hill@austin.utexas.edu 

Victoria Holloman

Victoria Hui (pronounced “hoy”) Holloman a Technology Transfer Specialist with The University of Texas at Austin. She currently lives in Tulsa, OK and is originally from Fayetteville, AR. She received a Bachelors in Arts Management from the University of Tulsa and a Master’s in Public Administration from the University of Arkansas. Prior to working for The University of Texas at Austin, she worked for the State of Oklahoma at the Oklahoma Department of Commerce and most recently for Oklahoma State University, at both the OSU Institute of Technology (OSUIT) and OSU Center for Health Sciences (OSU-CHS) campuses. She has spent the majority of her career working with federal grants as a project manager and outreach coordinator. Most recently at OSU-CHS, she directed projects centered on behavioral health and substance use disorders with the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and the National Center for Wellness & Recovery. Victoria serves the Tulsa community as a Board member and Program Committee Chair for Resonance Center for Women, a nonprofit focused on changing the lives of women affected by incarceration and addiction. She is also a member of the Junior League of Tulsa, a nonprofit focused on leadership and voluntarism training for women, and serves on the Board of Directors as the Strategic Planning and Research Chair.

Contact Information: vholloman@austin.utexas.edu 

Jessica Hughes Wagner, MPH

As Deputy Director of the UT Center for Health Communication, Jessica helps execute the CHC mission of advancing evidence-based health communication research, education, and practice. She oversees projects related to tobacco control on college campuses, addressing communication’s role in the intersection of alcohol and sexual consent, and healthcare provider engagement for opioid overdose prevention. Jessica’s career has included time with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Sherry Matthews Advocacy Marketing, and Ogilvy Public Relations. Prior to her role with the CHC, she led the UT Austin University Health Services’ Office of Health Promotion, where her team developed programs, policies, and health communication campaigns to support the health of UT students. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with dual degrees in Journalism and Mass Communication and Anthropology. Jessica returned to UNC-Chapel Hill, where she received her Master of Public Health degree with a focus in health communication from the Gillings School of Global Public Health.

Contact Information: jessica.wagner@austin.utexas.edu

Prakash Jayakumar, M.D., Ph.D.

Prakash Jayakumar, M.D., Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the Department of Surgery and Perioperative Care and director of clinical research and outcome measurement.Jayakumar is charged with building academic programs and research initiatives for the department, accelerating the integration of technological innovations and expanding the department’s health policy-related work. He will also mentor faculty in study design and grant development and facilitate collaboration across departments in Dell Medical School and The University of Texas at Austin..

Contact Information: Prakash.Jayakumar@austin.utexas.edu

Susan Kirtz, MPH

Susan Kirtz, MPH is a Program Manager at the Center for Health Communication, a joint center in the Moody College of Communication and Dell Medical School. She manages the CHC’s two largest funded projects, both aimed at preventing prescription opioid misuse, addiction, and overdose. Susan has extensive experience in planning, implementing, and evaluating public health and health communication campaigns. She earned her Master of Public Health Degree from The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Contact Information: susan.kirtz@austin.utexas.edu

Lindsey J. Loera, PharmD

Dr. Loera graduated from The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy in 2020 and is currently completing a two-year fellowship with the PhARM Program. In this role, she will develop an innovative clinical pharmacy practice at CARMAhealth and conduct statewide research exploring the pharmacist’s role in addiction treatment. She previously served as President of the Student Pharmacist Recovery Network and co-founded the Addiction Medicine Advanced Pharmacy Practice Experience.

Contact Information: lindsey.loera@austin.utexas.edu 

S. Claiborne “Clay” Johnston, M.D., Ph.D.

Since March 2014, Clay Johnston has served as the inaugural dean of Dell Medical School at The University of Texas at Austin. His vision is to create a new model for academic medicine that accelerates innovation to improve health and reduce inefficiencies in health care. That includes building a vital, inclusive health ecosystem to support new and innovative approaches to education, care, research and community impact — all with a focus on measurably improving health in Austin as a model for the nation. He is also a neurologist, specializing in stroke care and research.

Contact Information: clay.johnston@austin.utexas.edu

Kathryn Litten, Pharm.D., BCACP

Dr. Kathryn Litten is a board-certified ambulatory care pharmacist with a practice site at CommUnityCare Health Center’s Southeast Health and Wellness Center in Austin, TX. Her clinical interests include diabetes and cardiology. As a Clinical Assistant Professor, she teaches in the Pharmacotherapy and Clinical Skills courses as well as electives, such as Ambulatory Care and Herbal & Botanical Supplements. Kathryn Litten, is working with Dr. Hill and other UT Pharmacists to educate patients about Naloxone and overdose response.  

Contact Information: Kathryn.litten@communitycaretx.org

Michael Mackert, Ph.D.

Michael Mackert, Ph.D., is the Director of The University of Texas at Austin Center for Health Communication and Professor in the Stan Richards School of Advertising & Public Relations and Department of Population Health. His research focuses primarily on the strategies that can be used in traditional and new digital media to provide effective health communication to low health literate audiences. He leads projects on a variety of public health issues – including tobacco cessation, opioid overdose prevention, and men’s role in prenatal health – that generate evidence-based health communication strategies and contribute to health communication scholarship. 

Contact Information: mackert@utexas.edu 

Katie McCormick 

Katie McCormick is a doctoral student at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work. She is a licensed social worker who obtained her BSW from Baylor University, and her MSW from the University of Houston Graduate College of Social Work. Katie applies a multi-level, intersectional and community-centered lens throughout her work, and her research interests are threefold: (1) community-based participatory research as an approach, (2) implementation science as a framework, and (3) harm reduction as an intervention for addressing oppressive organizational practices with communities most impacted by HIV, substance use and mental health issues.

Contact Information: kmccormick@utexas.edu

Tim Mercer, MD, MPH

Tim Mercer is the director of global health at Dell Medical School and an assistant professor in the Departments of Population Health and Internal Medicine. He is a primary care physician for the Health Care for the Homeless program with CommUnityCare, Austin’s largest federally qualified health center. He is interested in solving health system challenges to improve access, quality and equity in health for vulnerable populations globally.

Contact Information: tim.mercer@austin.utexas.edu

Christopher Moriates, M.D. 

Chris Moriates, M.D., is the assistant dean for health care value in the Department of Medical Education at Dell Medical School. He is also an associate chair, associate professor, and practicing hospital medicine physician in the Department of Internal Medicine.

Contact Information: cmoriates@austin.utexas.edu

Ranjana Natarajan

Ranjana Natarajan directs the Civil Rights Clinic at the University of Texas School of Law. Students in the Civil Rights Clinic represent low-income clients in a variety of civil rights matters including police misconduct, jail mistreatment, debtors prisons, and disability discrimination. She has directed the Civil Rights Clinic from 2013 to the present. From 2009 to 2013, she directed the law school’s National Security Clinic, in which law students worked on cases and projects relating to national security, terrorism, and constitutional and human rights.

Contact Information: rnatarajan@law.utexas.edu

Kirsten G. Nieto, M.D.

Kirsten Nieto is an assistant professor and associate chief of the Division of Hospital Medicine in the Department of Internal Medicine. She served as the interim division chief for hospital medicine from September 2019 to July 2020. Nieto is a combined internal medicine and pediatric hospitalist with clinical expertise in hospitalized children and adults as well as transitions from inpatient to outpatient care and pediatric to adult health care providers. She also works to reduce the use of opioids in a hospital setting and trains other physicians on this model.  

Contact Information:kgnieto@seton.org

Rubén Parra-Cardona, Ph.D

Rubén Parra-Cardona, Ph.D is Associate Professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work and Area Director of Research at the UT Austin Latino Research Institute . He was funded by NIMH to investigate the treatment efficacy and relevance of two versions of an evidence-based parenting intervention culturally adapted for Latino families with young children. He is currently funded by NIDA to extend this line of research to Latino families with adolescent children. He served as vice-president of the Family Process Institute and is an editorial board member of Family Process.  He is also a member of the Board of Directors of the Society for Prevention Research. He has extensive experience on research collaborations across the U.S.-Mexico border. Currently, he is Co-Principal Investigator of a large scale parenting prevention initiative in Chile funded by a large private foundation and the Chilean government.

 Contact Information:rparra@austin.utexas.edu

Kate Pounders, Ph.D.

Dr. Pounders is an Associate Professor at The University of Texas at Austin in the Stan Richards School of Advertising & PR. Her research examines consumer psychology in the domains of persuasion and consumer well-being. Specifically, it focuses on how facets of motivation, such as identity, emotions, and the goal-striving process – interact to influence consumer response to marketing and health communication. Her work leverages consumer psychology to identify both the beneficial and detrimental effects that media, advertising, and health messaging may impart. She also examines emotional appeals and message framing in health advertising. Her work seeks to offer theoretical contributions as well as useful practical implications for both the consumer marketplace and society more generally.

Contact Information:kate.pounders@austin.utexas.edu

Mark Queralt, M.D 

Mark Queralt, MD, is a board-certified physical medicine and rehabilitation specialist and the Clinical Director of UT Health Austin’s Back and Neck Pain Center within both the Mulva Clinic for the Neurosciences and the Musculoskeletal Institute.

Contact Information:mark.queralt@gmail.com 

David Ring, M.D., Ph.D.

I’m an orthopedic surgeon, hand and arm specialist, and Associate Dean for Comprehensive Care at Dell Medical School. I’m interested in how social and mental health interact with physical health.  

Contact Information:david.ring@austin.utexas.edu 

Taylor Simons, M.Ed.

Taylor Simons is the Community Engagement Coordinator for SHIFT, a health initiative at the University of Texas at Austin. SHIFT engages the community in a new conversation aimed at shifting the culture of substance use away from misuse and toward well-being. Taylor’s background is in motivational interviewing, social norms research, and implementing harm-reduction practices alongside community partners. She earned her Bachelor’s in Psychology from Texas Christian University and her Master’s in Counselor Education from UT Austin.

Contact Information: taylor.simons@austin.utexas.edu

Amanda J. Simonton, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC

Amanda J. Simonton, PhD, APRN, PMHNP-BC is a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University of Texas at Austin School of Nursing and Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioner at the Texas Child Study Center at Dell Children’s Medical Center and CARMA Health. As a psychiatric nurse practitioner, she has primarily worked with adults with dual-diagnosed (substance use and mental health) disorders and with children and adolescents. Dr. Simonton has utilized mix-methods approaches to explore physical activity attitudes and preferences in adults receiving methadone for opioid use disorder. She is an advocate for buprenorphine training and waivers for advanced practice nurses and hopes to implement this training in the psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner program in the future.

Contact Information:asimonton@austin.utexas.edu 

Richard Spence, PhD 

Richard Spence is director of the Addiction Research Institute (ARI) at the School of Social Work. He is an expert in the epidemiology of alcohol and other drug problems. His research focuses on the individual, family, societal and cultural levels that influence substance abuse and substance abuse treatment. ARI is dedicated to improving access and quality of services for underserved populations with substance abuse and related disorders.

Contact Information:r.spence@austin.utexas.edu

Carlos Tirado, M.D., MPH

Carlos Tirado is board certified in general and addiction psychiatry and a recognized leader, innovator, mentor and clinical expert in addiction treatment and systems of care. He is Co-Founder and CMO of CARMAhealth, a health care company that provides comprehensive primary care for addiction and related behavioral and medical disorders. Additionally, Tirado is a Senior Medical Advisor for MAP Health Management, a national leader in Peer Recovery Support, data analytics and population health for substance use disorders. He is also owner and Medical Director of Restore Fx, an interdisciplinary chronic pain recovery program that moves individuals from dependence on opioids and ineffective interventions toward self-care, medical independence and productivity.

Contact Information:carlost@carmahealth.com

Mary Marden Velasquez, Ph.D.

Mary Velasquez, Ph.D., is the Centennial Professor in Leadership for Community, Professional and Corporate Excellence and director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute at The University of Texas at Austin Steve Hicks School of Social Work. Velasquez holds a master’s degree in clinical psychology and a Ph.D. in behavioral sciences from the University of Texas Health Science Center-School of Public Health. Her program of research focuses on the development and implementation of interventions using the Transtheoretical Model and Motivational Interviewing. With over 20 years of support from the National Institutes of Health and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Velasquez has developed and studied behavioral interventions in the areas of integrated primary care, screening and brief interventions, fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, alcohol and other drug abuse, prenatal health, HIV prevention, and smoking cessation. 

Contact Information:velasquez@austin.utexas.edu 

Thomas R. Vetter, M.D., MPH

Thomas Vetter, M.D., MPH, is the director of perioperative care, chief of the Division of Anesthesia and Perioperative Medicine and professor in the departments of Surgery and Perioperative Care and Population Health at Dell Medical School. Vetter is a nationally recognized expert on perioperative medicine and value-based health care.

Contact Information:thomas.vetter@austin.utexas.edu

Samantha Catanzano

After graduating with her Pharm.D. degree from the University of Texas at Austin, Dr. Catanzano completed a pharmacy practice residency (2016-2017) and a psychiatric pharmacy practice residency (2017-2018) at Seton Healthcare Family and The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. Following her residency training, she gained experience as a clinical and staff pharmacist at the Austin State Hospital. Currently, she serves as a Clinical Assistant Professor for The University of Texas at Austin College of Pharmacy. In addition to her academic appointment, she is a Behavioral Health Pharmacist at UT Health Austin within the Integrated Behavioral Health Department where she serves the Primary Care, Musculoskeletal, and Multiple Sclerosis clinics. In this role, she functions as part of a multidisciplinary team to address complex pharmacology and mental health needs in the community setting. Additionally, Dr. Catanzano provides academic lectures to first- and second-year psychiatry residents and addiction medicine fellows through Dell Medical School’s department of psychiatry. She is a certified Mental Health First Aid instructor and serves on the Resident and New Practitioner committee within the College of Psychiatric and Neurologic Pharmacists (CPNP) organization.

Contact Information:svogel@austin.utexas.edu

Kirk von Sternberg 

Kirk von Sternberg, Ph.D., is an associate professor at the Steve Hicks School of Social Work, and the associate director of the Health Behavior Research and Training Institute (HBRT). Von Sternberg has 20 years of experience in designing and implementing large clinical trials to test interventions based on the Transtheoretical Model and Motivational Interviewing (MI). As an investigator, he was responsible for study design and data analysis on several large NIH and CDC funded randomized controlled intervention trials addressing risk of alcohol-exposed pregnancies, alcohol and safer sexual practices, STI screening, cocaine abuse, and screening and brief interventions for alcohol and drugs in medical settings to name a few. Von Sternberg has particular interest in the mechanisms of change and recently was the primary data analyst on a study to examine the intervention tapes from the successful Project Choices Efficacy trial. 

Contact Information:vonsternberg@austin.utexas.edu

John Weems, M.D.

John attended Harvard Medical School then completed internal medicine-primary care residency and addiction medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital and Charlestown Community Health Center. He serves marginalized communities in Austin as a primary care and addiction medicine clinician at CommunityCare and is an Assistant Professor, Department of Internal Medicine at The University of Texas at Austin Dell Medical School.

Contact Information:john.weems@communitycaretx.org 

Isela Werchan, M.D. 

Dr. Werchan is board-certified in General Psychiatry by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology, and Addiction Medicine by the American Board of Preventive Medicine. Her training and experience includes the treatment of mood and anxiety disorders, traumatic and obsessive-compulsive disorders, and psychotic disorders. She has special interests in cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive processing therapy, psychodynamic psychotherapy, motivational interviewing, dialectical behavioral therapy, and substance abuse group therapy. Her current primary focus involves the assessment and treatment of substance abuse disorders.

Contact Information:iselaw@carmahealth.com

J. Michael Wilkerson; PhD; Project HOMES Co-Principle Investigator (In-kind)

Project HOMES Co-Principle Investigator (In-kind). Dr. Wilkerson is an Associate Professor in Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, School of Public Health. As part of his academic appointment at the School of Public Health, he serves as a faculty co-coordinator for the health disparities concentration and certificate program. His academic training includes a doctoral degree in adult, professional, and community education, a master’s degree in health education, and a master’s degree in epidemiology. His research focuses on the identification of individual and structural determinants that contribute to health disparities among marginalized populations and the development and evaluation of health promotion programs. He is particularly concerned about disparities in substance use and HIV/STI prevention and treatment. He has been working as a practitioner and researcher in community health education for over twenty years. Currently, he is funded to evaluate recovery residences and a re-entry program for persons using medication assisted recovery, a certification  program for peer recovery support specialists, and curricula for persons enrolled in an intensive outpatient program. Dr. Wilkerson teaches graduate courses in health promotion theory and methods, health disparities, and adult and community education. He has received funding from NIH, CDC, health departments, and foundations.

Contact Information: Johnny.M.Wilkerson@uth.tmc.edu

Nicholas Yagoda, M.D.

Nicolas Yagoda is the director of primary care at CommUnityCare Health Centers where he also maintains a clinical practice as a family medicine physician and HIV specialist. Yagoda is committed to the care of the vulnerable and underserved. 

Contact Information:Nicholas.yagoda@communitycaretx.org

Jiahua (Bella) Yang, PH.D. Candidate

Bella’s research focuses on investigating intersectional health inequality in health stigma and developing health communication strategies to help restore health equity, with qualitative and quantitative research methods. Her research topics include health stigma, substance use disorder, social psychology, media psychology, and persuasion. M.A. The University of Texas at Austin, Advertising; B.A. University of International Business and Economics, Business English & International Business Management

Contact Information:jhyang@utexas.edu

Claire Zagorski, MSc, LP

Claire Zagorski is the program coordinator of the College of Pharmacy’s PhARM Program. She is a paramedic and harm reductionist, with more than eight years of experience in direct outreach to people who use drugs in central Texas. She is completing a master’s in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, and uses her chemistry background to research contaminants in the illegal drug supply.

Contact Information:claire.zagorski@austin.utexas.edu