Grayken Center for Addiction Faculty

Corinne Beaugard is a post-doctoral fellow focused on addiction, recovery, and harm reduction. Their focus is on health equity and increasing the acceptability of addiction treatment and interventions, especially for people with oppressed identities and those without abstinence goals. During the 2023-2024 academic year, Beaugard is a postdoctoral researcher at Boston Medical Center's Department of Psychiatry and the Grayken Center for Addiction.

Addiction Psychiatry Project Manager

Casey Calver is the Editorial Director at the Grayken Center for Addiction and the Clinical Addiction Research & Education (CARE) Unit at Boston Medical Center, where she works on the newsletter Alcohol, Other Drugs, and Health: Current Evidence and the journal Addiction Science & Clinical Practice. Casy’s doctoral dissertation in Editorial Studies at Boston University was an annotated edition of the 1937 pamphlet Authors Take Sides on the Spanish War. She is currently studying Global Public Health Policy (MSc) at the University of Edinburgh, and serves as Executive Officer of the International Society of Addiction Journal Editors.

Is a clinical social worker, educator, and advocate with nearly 15 years of experience. Her work focuses on addressing the compounded needs of patients experiencing psychiatric crises, houselessness, and addiction through direct care, program-development and training. Deb's passionate about behavioral health and criminal-justice. She has worked in Massachusetts Prison System, as a Jail Diversion Clinician, at Harvard Law’s Criminal Justice Institute, and with public defenders. Deb co-leads NASW-MA’s Criminal Justice Committee and lectures at BUSSW. She supports Grayken on initiatives ending criminalization of addiction and with Population Health on addressing behavioral health needs of high-risk ACO patients.

Is a Senior Research Project Manager for the Grayken Center of Addiction. As an advocate for wellness and health, she is passionate about lifting the voices of those often sidelined, thus researching ways to develop equitable care for Black patients struggling with substance use and children with parents struggling with substance use. Daneiris takes great interest in working alongside patients, thus has been committed to collaborating with patients on research efforts

Is a Health Services Researcher whose interests include disparities in treatment access and health outcomes for people with co-occurring psychiatric and substance use disorders. Dr. Johnson has prior experience working as a substance use counselor and as a House Manager in transitional treatment programs for adults in recovery. Her research integrates qualitative and quantitative research methods to inform policy and practice. She joined the Grayken Center in August 2023 to work with the Substance Use Disorder Antiracism “SUDA” workgroup and will help lead the analysis of qualitative data gathered from multidisciplinary experts in addiction treatment

Is a Licensed Independent Clinical Social Worker and Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor. She is the Manager of Clinical Programs and Workforce Development at the Grayken Center for Addiction at Boston Medical Center. Carla holds degrees and certificates in human services, substance use counseling, trauma, and social work. Carla is also a dedicated advocate for social and racial justice, serving on several advisory committees and promoting, equality, and equity through clinical practice, research, education, policy, advocacy, and community engagement. Her focus is on examining the relationship between substance use, race, ethnicity, and treatment.

Raquel Silveira the Senior Admin Coordinator at the Grayken Center for Addiction. She provides
administrative support to Miriam Komaromy, Medical Director at the Grayken Center. In addition to
providing administrative support, she manages projects and events for the Grayken Center including but
not limited to the Annual Recovery Month Field Day.

Is a Sr. Population Health Analyst working across the Population Health Analytics and Grayken Center for Addiction teams at Boston Medical Center. She leverages her experience in both clinical data analysis and behavioral health to support the Grayken team through a suite of interactive dashboards, ad hoc analyses that explore hospital-wide and program-specific trends, as well as exploration into both research and clinical questions.

Joined the Grayken Center for Addiction as a Research Project Manager in January 2023. His chief project is the planning of Grayken’s inaugural addiction-focused conference that will take place in March 2024 and is focused on interdisciplinary and community collaborations that can further facilitate the treatment and prevention of substance use disorders in Boston. Kris also manages the Grayken Newsletter, so if you have a resource, publication, or any addiction-related content that you would like to share, please reach out to him.

Is a research assistant at the Grayken Center for Addiction. She assists with collecting study data to understand how to create antiracist approaches to providing services for Black patients and community members with lived experiences of substance use. Tayla is an Upward Bound scholar, with a bachelor’s degree in public health and sociology. She has a strong passion for supporting, educating and uplifting BIPOC and low-income youth. She will be continuing her education by pursuing a master’s degree in nursing, which she aims to use to continue supporting the BIPOC community.

Lead - Information Impacts Action: Debunking Myths About the Family and Recovery

Alicia Ventura is the director of special projects and research for the Grayken Center for Addiction Training and Technical Assistance program and Boston Medical Center's Office Based Addiction Treatment (OBAT) program, overseeing all research and evaluation activities for both programs. She has more than 15 years of experience conducting public health and clinical research. Ventura has spent the last decade focused exclusively on research, evaluation, and program development related to mitigating the harmful consequences of alcohol and drug use, including the impact on affected family members. She is currently principal investigator of a qualitative study investigating the experience of affected family members. She is also co-investigator on a mixed-methods study examining perspectives of addiction treatment providers on working with family members.  

Ventura also directs a harm reduction-focused educational program for family members affected by a loved one's substance use. She provides training and technical assistance to health care organizations on integration of the family into routine addiction care and is a board member of the Addiction and the Family International Network. She has published on various topics, including reproductive health, HIV, substance use, and family members impacted by substance use. Alicia received her master’s in community public health from New York University.

Christina S. Lee, Ph.D., is an associate professor in the School of Social Work at Boston University (BUSSW); addiction faculty at BU’s Grayken Center, Boston Medical Center; and a faculty affiliate at BU’s Center for Antiracist Research. Her research bridges the areas of intervention science, addiction psychology, and health inequities. By focusing on the effects of social and environmental stressors, like the impact of discrimination, stigma, and racism, Dr. Lee has become an influential voice in efforts to reduce risky health behaviors among diverse, understudied groups and in understanding substance use as a social justice issue. She is PI and co-PI on NIAAA-funded addiction treatment research with diverse populations, and is on the training faculty at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies at Brown University. She is also the research director at BUSSW’s Center for Innovation in Social Work and Health (CISWH), and mentors graduate and postdoctoral scholars from diverse racial-ethnic groups. Dr. Lee is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology and the NIAAA journal Alcohol Research: Current Reviews.

Rachel Sayko Adams, PhD, MPH is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy & Management at BUSPH. She is a proud alum of BUSPH where she completed her Master in Public Health in Health Policy & Management followed by a PhD in Social Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University. Dr. Adams is a health services researcher with expertise studying substance use, disparities in treatment, and morbidity and mortality outcomes in high-risk populations (e.g., military/Veterans, persons with traumatic brain injury or other disabilities). She is coming to BUSPH from the Institute for Behavioral Health at Brandeis University’s Heller School for Social Policy & Management, where she led a portfolio of addiction health services research for over a decade. She has led studies from the National Institutes of Health (i.e, NIMH, NIAAA, NIDA, and NCCIH), the National Institute on Disability, Independent Living, and Rehabilitation Research (NIDILRR), and Uniformed Services University at the Department of Defense. Dr. Adams has an appointment as a health services researcher with the Veterans Health Administration Rocky Mountain Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center in Aurora, Colorado and as an Investigator with the Partnered Evidence-based Policy Resource Center at the VA Boston Healthcare System.

Dr. Adams is Multiple Principal Investigator (MPI) on a R01 from the National Institute of Mental Health and the Office of the Director at NIH which is integrating data from the Department of Defense and Veterans Health Administration to enhance suicide prevention efforts for military members following deployment (Brenner/Adams). She is MPI of the Substance Use and Psychological Injury Combat Study - Pain Management (SUPIC), a longitudinal study examining the association of non-pharmacological treatments for pain management, as a complement or substitute to opioids, in relation to long-term health outcomes, funded by the Center for Complementary and Integrative Health at NIH (Larson/Adams). She was the Co-PI of the INROADS study, Intersecting Research on Opioid Misuse, Addiction, and Disability Services, which examined the intersection between addiction, disability, and service provision in an effort to address the rise of opioid use disorders among people with disabilities, funded by NIDILRR. In collaboration with researchers from the Uniformed Services University, Dr. Adams is the Site-PI on a study examining healthcare utilization and readiness outcomes among soldiers with post-deployment at-risk drinking, by multimorbidity class. She has completed studies on the health effects of deployment for military spouses and children, and the impact of early behavioral health treatment in reducing long term substance use and psychological health problems postdeployment.

Dr. Jernigan is best known for his action-research approach to the issue of alcohol advertising, marketing, and promotion and its influence on young people. His work has led to better advertising regulations and a clearer understanding of the evolving structure of the alcohol industry. His work is policy relevant and scientifically rigorous. Dr. Jernigan has been very active in translating research findings into policy and practice. He testifies regularly at city, state, and national levels around alcohol advertising and youth, alcohol availability, and taxation. He also trains advocates around the world using the best evidence.

Recognized among the top one percent of NIH grant recipients over the past two decades, Dr. Stein has worked at the intersection of behavioral medicine and primary care. His outcomes research has moved between substance use disorders and HIV/AIDS, sleep and pain, mental health disorders, and the determinants of risk-taking. He has published more than 450 scientific journal articles. Dr. Stein graduated from Harvard College and received his medical degree from Columbia College of Physicians & Surgeons. After medical residency at New England Medical Center, he completed a National Research Service Award Fellowship at Brown University. He was director of HIV Services at Rhode Island Hospital for two decades. He worked for years as a consultant to tech start-ups. He is also the award-winning author of six novels and eight books of non-fiction, and his writings have been noted in the Best American essay series, and appeared in many magazines and newspapers. Recent books, "Me vs. Us: A Health Divided" and "Accidental Kindness: A Doctor's Notes on Empathy," were published in 2022. HIs newest book, with Sandro Galea, "The Turning Point: Reflections on a Pandemic" was published in 2024. He is Executive Editor of the online magazine Public Health Post.

Noel Vest, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at the Boston University School of Public Health. As a formerly incarcerated scholar, Dr. Vest advocates for social justice issues and public policy concerning substance use disorder recovery and prison reentry. His research interests include mental health, substance use disorders, poverty, social justice, addiction recovery, and pain. He was recently awarded a K01 early investigator award through the National Institute of Drug Abuse to study collegiate recovery programs through an implementation science lens. He received his Ph.D. and Master’s degrees in Experimental Psychology from Washington State University. He recently finished a postdoc in the Department of Anesthesia at Stanford Medicine.