Institute for Translational Research Education in Adolescent Substance Use (ITRE)

Dr. Amy Armstrong-Heimsoth is the Department Chair & Associate Clinical Professor for the Department of Occupational Therapy at NAU on the Phoenix Biomedical Campus. She has been a faculty member with the department since 2015. She was an ITRE Cohort 5 Scholar and currently serves as academic mentor for ITRE. Amy graduated with a doctoral degree from Rocky Mountain University of Health Professions in 2014. She earned her Bachelor’s Degree in Human Development & Family Studies from the University of Missouri in 1992 and her Master’s Degree in Occupational Therapy from the University of Southern California in 1997. Amy has 25 years of clinical pediatric occupational therapy experience. Her research interests include neurodevelopmental disabilities, influences of trauma on development, empowerment through health literacy, and foster care youth. Amy currently serves as President of the Arizona Occupational Therapy Association. She is also a board member for Opportunity, Community, & Justice for Kids, which serves foster care youth in Arizona.

Donna L. Burton, PhD is an Assistant Research Professor in the Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral and Community Sciences at the University of South Florida. Dr. Burton is a faculty member and member of the Institute for Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health’s Executive Committee. Dr. Burton’s areas of research specialization include implementation science and translational research respective to child and adolescent behavioral health and trauma-informed care. She brings to her current position over 25 years of experience in the delivery of drug abuse and mental health services, including specialty services to address co-occurring disorders for adolescents, adults, and families through integrated community-based behavioral health programming.

Dr. Brooke De Heer is an Assistant Professor of Criminology and Criminal Justice at NAU. She earned her M.A. (2009) and Ph.D. (2011) in Psychology, with an emphasis in quantitative legal psychology at The University of Texas, El Paso. She teaches and conducts research in the areas of criminology and victimology with a strong focus on community-engaged scholarship. Her research to date has primarily focused on issues of gender and power in sexual violence, and inequitable treatment and consideration of vulnerable victims involved in the criminal justice system. Two themes that run through her scholarship are: 1) the representation of diverse populations as victims of sexual violence; and 2) understanding antecedents and responses to gendered violence, including availability of services. She currently teaches courses on Feminist Justice, Gendered Violence and the American Court System at NAU. She previously worked as an Intelligence Analyst for the FBI.

Bruce Lubotsky Levin, DrPH, MPH is Associate Professor in the Department of Child & Family Studies at the University of South Florida (USF) College of Behavioral & Community Sciences and Associate Professor & Head of the Behavioral Health Concentration at the USF College of Public Health. Dr. Levin is also Co-Principal Investigator and Curriculum Director for the USF Institute for Translational Research Education in Adolescent Drug Abuse.  Dr. Levin currently serves as Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research. He is Senior Editor of Foundations of Behavioral Health (Springer, In press, Senior Editor of Introduction to Public Health in Pharmacy, Second Edition (Oxford University Press, 2018), Co-Author of Mental Health Informatics (Oxford University Press, 2013), and Senior Editor or Co-Author of seven additional textbooks in public health and behavioral health. His research interests include behavioral health policy, informatics, and translational research in adolescent behavioral health.

Tom Massey, PhD is an Associate Professor and Division Director in the Department of Child and Family Studies, College of Behavioral & Community Sciences at the University of South Florida. Dr. Massey is a Co-Principal Investigator and Evaluation Director at the Institute for Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health and Concentration Director for the Translational Research and Evaluation specialty track in the Masters of Science in Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health program. He specializes in the organization, implementation, and evaluation of mental health services for adolescents in schools and the community. He has expertise in quantitative and qualitative methodology and has conducted research and evaluation projects on the delivery of mental and behavioral health services in K-12, the sustainability of mental health services, and adolescent engagement in effective services. He is the author of Evaluation Human Research Development Programs: A Practical Guide for Public Agencies and numerous publications and book chapters devoted to evaluation in the applied sector.

Kathleen A. Moore, PhD is a Research Professor in USF’s Department of Mental Health, Law, and Policy as well as the Executive Director of the Louis de la Parte Florida Mental Health Institute (FMHI). She received her Ph.D. in Health Psychology from Kent State University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Duke University Medical Center. For the past 24 years, she has collaborated with mental health and substance use agencies as well as different problem-solving courts. Her focus is on program evaluation, bridging the gap between research and practice. She has developed and taught several core courses within USF’s Behavioral Healthcare undergraduate program as well as the Behavioral and Community Sciences PhD program and is a certified trainer for Mental Health First Aid. She also serves on several committees, both within USF and in the community such as the Hillsborough County Anti-Drug Alliance, Tampa Alcohol Coalition, and drug court steering committees. Dr. Moore has been Co-PI on numerous NIH-related grants and PI on over 20 SAMHSA grant projects with a focus on treatment drug court and opioid use disorder. These grant-related projects have resulted in peer-reviewed publications, technical reports, and professional presentations at local, statewide, and national conferences.

Alexandra Albizu-Jacob is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in the Behavioral and Community Sciences program at USF. She earned her master’s degree in public health in the Behavioral Health Concentration from USF COPH. She was in the first cohort of ITRE Scholars 2013-2014. She has provided peer mentorship to numerous cohorts of ITRE scholars. Alexandra’s experience includes technical assistance, evaluation, and clinical trial project management across a wide variety of topics including adolescent behavioral health, trauma-informed care, men’s mental health and wellbeing, father engagement in schools, and pediatric psycho-oncology. Currently, she is a graduate research associate for a 5-year, PCORI-funded randomized controlled trial that aims to reduce racial disparities in hospital readmissions and negative outcomes post hospitalization for older adult African Americans and Hispanics. Her research interests include examining community, organization, and system-level processes through implementation science research and practice. 

Tracy Bales is a doctoral student in the CBCS PhD Degree program at USF. She earned a Bachelor of Arts in Design from UF and a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Honors from USF. In addition, Tracy earned a Master of Public Health at USF COPH and a Graduate Certificate in ITRE at USF CBCS. Her previous research focused on health decision-making, adolescent substance use prevention, and implementation fidelity in prevention programming. Her current research interests include parent-involved cyberbullying prevention, gamification in prevention programming, behavioral economics, and arts in health.

Dr. Emily Farber earned a Doctorate in Occupational Therapy from Northern Arizona University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Kinesiology from Arizona State University. While in her doctoral program, she also obtained a graduate certificate in Translational Research in Adolescent Behavioral Health from the University of Southern Florida. Through her dedication to research, her peers and faculty at NAU presented her with the Outstanding Practice Scholar award during her graduation ceremony. At this time, she serves as a Practice Scholarship Apprenticeship Mentor for her alma mater as well as a principal investigator (PI) and a co-PI on two funded research projects. Her current research focuses on bridging the gap in foster care transition services. As a research assistant, she studied the effects of assisted cycling therapy on the motor and cognitive processes of adolescents and young adults with Down syndrome and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder. 

Dr. Amanda Hunter is a citizen of the Pascua Yaqui Tribe and was born and raised in Tucson, AZ. Dr. Hunter earned her MPH (2016) and PhD (2020) in health behavior and health promotion from the University of Arizona. She currently resides in Flagstaff, Arizona and is a postdoctoral scholar at NAU’s Center for Health Equity Research under the mentorship of Dr. Julie Baldwin. Amanda’s research focuses on the relationship between cultural identity and mental and behavioral health outcomes in Indigenous youth. Since 2015, Amanda has worked with Indigenous communities in Arizona to develop, implement, and evaluate a culturally grounded after-school program called Native Spirit. Native Spirit aims to strengthen resilience, cultural identity, and self-esteem, while attenuating substance use in Indigenous youth. Dr. Hunter uses a community-grounded and mixed-methods approach to conduct evaluation of the Native Spirit program.

Tajhah Kittling earned a Master’s degree in Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health from USF and has over 10 years of experience with community-based initiatives. Most of her educational and employment history focuses on behavioral health within a community. Direct engagement with children, adolescents, young adults, and adult families spurred her interest in improvement science, blending dissemination with implementation and sustainability. Her current practices actively implement evidence-based treatments on a local level with community professionals, where the focus is on providing direct services and cultivating program intrapreneurship. She aims to structure her practices and leadership around neuro-inclusion, trauma-informed management, system of care, values, principles, and equity. Her goal is to focus on the integration of new culturally responsive policies while developing employee personal and professional skills through a supervision/coaching model. Tajah has been affiliated with ITRE since 2023 as Scholar in cohort-10

Manuel “Manny” Mayor is a student in the DrPH program at USF, COPH, and graduated with an MPH degree in public health administration. He has more than 13 years of public health experience, which includes research and prevention efforts in the fields of Human Immunodeficiency viruses, colorectal cancer, Alzheimer’s Disease, and tobacco cessation. He is currently working at Premier Community HealthCare to create connections with community members, collaborate with community organizations, and coordinate events aiming to improve community access and health. As the Community Engagement Manager, he manages a team that helps the community in gaining health care access, health education, and social resources. A focus of his efforts is underserved communities such as migrant seasonal agricultural workers, people experiencing homelessness, and public housing residents among others. Manny has been affiliated with ITRE since 2023 as Scholar in cohort-10

Kimberly Menendez is a doctoral candidate in Behavioral and Community Sciences at USF and is the Senior Editorial Associate for the Journal of Behavioral Health Services & Research. She earned a master's degree in forensic psychology and is a certified prevention professional. Kimberly earned a graduate certificate from the ITRE as a Cohort 1 Scholar. She has also served as an ITRE community agency mentor for several ITRE cohorts. Prior to her acceptance into the PhD program, her career has been in child and adolescent behavioral health equipping youth with skills to avoid risky behaviors such as substance use and violence. Her current area of research focuses on adult populations with opioid use disorder and includes the exploration of opioid-related surveillance data within emergency medical services systems.

Elzbieta Wiedbusch is a doctoral student in the Behavioral and Community Sciences program at USF. She earned her Bachelor of Science in Psychology and Criminal Justice/Criminology from Loyola University Chicago. Elzbieta has assisted in research projects regarding youth community violence exposure, recovery from substance misuse and addiction, and the criminal justice system's impact on marginalized communities. Her efforts resulted in poster presentations at regional and national conferences and published manuscripts on recovery from substance use disorders. Her current research focuses on the intersection of substance misuse and addiction, trauma, and attention deficit disorder among girls in the juvenile justice system. Elzbieta is also interested in diagnostic procedures and assessments used in juvenile justice systems and their validity for female and non-White youth. Her professional goal is to promote and disseminate evidence-based prevention and intervention programs for youth at risk for criminal justice involvement. She plans to work with community-based agencies to prevent local youth from justice involvement and provide them with needed behavioral health service. Elzbieta has been affiliated with ITRE since 2023 as Scholar in cohort-10.