| Background |
| Academic and Business Partners |
| Faculty Bios |
Dean Kilpatrick, PhD Dr. Kilpatrick a co-director of the DREM Center. Dr. Kilpatrick is the director of NCVC and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the MUSC. For the past 29 years, Dr. Kilpatrick has been involved in the crime victims’ rights movement, having served as a founding member of South Carolina’s first rape crisis center in 1974 and of the South Carolina Victim Assistance Network in 1984. He was appointed by Governor Richard Riley in 1984 to the Crime Victims Advisory Board and reappointed by Governor Carroll Campbell to a second term in 1991. Dr. Kilpatrick and his colleagues have received several grants from the National Institute of Mental Health, National Institute of Justice, and the National Institute of Drug Abuse supporting their research on the scope of violent crime and its psychological impact on victims. His work has been published in scientific and professional journals, and he has made presentations to numerous state, national, and international groups. In 1990, President George Bush presented Dr. Kilpatrick with the US Justice Department Award for Outstanding Contributions on Behalf of Victims of Crime. Dr. Kilpatrick has testified about crime victim issues at hearings held by the South Carolina General Assembly, the United States House of Representatives, and the United States Senate. He is Editor of the Journal of Traumatic Stress.
Top of page
Sandro Galea, MD, DrPH Dr Galea is an Associate Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Michigan, School of Public Health. Formerly he was the Associate Director at the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies at the New York Academy of Medicine. He did his graduate training at the University of Toronto Medical School, at the Harvard University School of Public Health, and at the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health. Dr Galea is primarily interested in the determinants of health in urban settings and particularly in the epidemiology of mental health and substance use. He has been the lead investigator on CUES’ work in the aftermath of the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Dr. Galea also conducted research on the aftermath of the March 11, 2003 train bombings in Madrid and on the aftermath of the 2004 Florida Hurricanes. His work includes basic epidemiologic research, theoretic development, and the application of innovative methods to epidemiologic problems. Dr Galea is an elected member of the American College of Epidemiology and a fellow of the Royal Institute of Public Health. He is board certified in Family Medicine and Emergency Medicine. He has worked as a clinician in remote rural communities in Northern Canada and in Mudug Region, Somalia. He is a licensed physician in Ontario, Canada and New York State. Dr. Galea is a co-editor of the forthcoming volume Research Methods for Studying Mental Health After Disasters and Terrorism; ed. Norris FH, Galea S, Friedman M, Watson P. The book will be published by
Guildford Press in 2006.
Top of page
Ron Acierno, PhD Dr. Acierno received his M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Nova-Southeastern University in 1996. Dr. Acierno specializes in the assessment and treatment of psychopathology in older adults who have been victims of assault, abuse, neglect, and exploitation. Dr. Acierno is Co-Investigator working with Dr. Resnick on a new acute phase treatment to prevent development of emotional disorders in rape victims. He has been funded by NIH, by the Retirement Research Foundation, and by VOCA and SVAP victim programs. Dr. Acierno’s teaching experience includes formal classroom instruction, guest lectureships, full day workshops, and undergraduate/graduate student mentorship. Specifically, Dr. Acierno has taught graduate level classes at the Medical University of South Carolina, as well as undergraduate classes at the Citadel and the College of Charleston. Most recently, he has taught Medical Ethics, Patient Interviewing, and a senior lectureship on Interpersonal violence to students at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Acierno is the recipient of the MUSC Golden Apple Award, an honor bestowed on exceptional teachers by the medical students, and has scored in the 90th percentile in student evaluations of teaching quality for faculty in the College of Medicine, and in the Department of Psychiatry in each of the 9 semesters he has taught. In terms of mentorship, Dr. Acierno has trained several undergraduates in clinical research skills, many of whom are currently in graduate school. Moreover, post-doctoral fellows under his tutelage have submitted grant proposals to Federal and State agencies, and have authored or co-authored book chapters and journal articles under his direction during each of the eight years he has been with the Medical University of South Carolina.
Top of page
Connie Best, PhD Dr. Best is a Clinical Psychologist and Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina. Dr. Best is nationally known for her work in the area of psychological trauma, the effects of victimizations, and the effects of terrorism and mass violence. She was invited as one of the scientific experts on the jointly sponsored DOD, DOJ, HHS, DVA, and American Red Cross “Consensus Committee on Mental Health and Mass Violence” which developed the widely disseminated Consensus on Best Practices document. Currently Dr. Best is an investigator and faculty member on HRSA and SAMHSA funded grants on bio-terrorism. While a member of the U.S. Naval Reserve, Dr. Best initiated or participated in bio-terrorism efforts, including curriculum and training development.
Top of page
Joseph A. Boscarino, PhD, MPH Dr. Boscarino is a Social Psychologist and an Epidemiologist. Dr. Boscarino has an MPH in Epidemiology from the University of California at Berkeley and a PhD in Social Psychology & Research Methods from New York University. He also completed post-doctoral fellowships in Health Services Research at Yale University and in Clinical Epidemiology at the University of California, San Francisco. Currently he is a Senior Scientist in the Division of Health and Science Policy at NYAM and Associate Professor in Pediatrics and Internal Medicine at Mt Sinai School of Medicine in New York City. He also serves as a Research Epidemiologist at the New Jersey VA Health Care System. Dr. Boscarino has extensive experience in health outcomes research in both academic and corporate settings, and over the past 30 years, he has conducted hundreds of health studies in the US and internationally. Dr. Boscarino has a special interest and expertise in Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and has over a dozen publications on this topic since the early 1970’s in addition to 60 other professional publications related to health outcomes and epidemiology. Recently, his research linked PTSD with coronary heart disease among veterans and he is currently collaborating with VA investigators to expand this line of research. Dr. Boscarino has conducted research in the aftermath of September 11 in concert with Drs Galea and Vlahov, and has focused specifically on the health services research aspects of mental health service use after this disaster. In addition, Dr. Boscarino also is the PI for a major NIMH-funded grand (“Impact of Mental Health Treatment in NY after WTC Disaster”), which seeks to assess the effects of post-disaster treatment and access to care in New York City. Dr. Boscarino has made hundreds of professional presentations over his career and has experience as a Senior Health Care Consultant and Health Educator. Dr. Boscarino brings to the team specific experience and interest in health services research and will be in charge of the module in the proposal.
Top of page
Michael J. Bucuvalas, PhD Dr. Bucuvalas is a senior partner at SRBI Inc. Dr. Bucuvalas has a PhD in political science from Columbia University. His primary focus is on survey design and methodology with substantive research concentrations in public policy, media, telecommunications, technology and health. Dr. Bucuvalas has taught methodology and analysis at SUNY Stony Brook and Hofstra University, and he has served as a Research Associate at the Center for the Social Sciences of Columbia University. His research on health issues and the use of research and decision-making has appeared in New England Journal of Medicine, American Journal of Sociology and Organizational Behavior and Human Performance, among others. Dr. Bucuvalas has been published in book form by Columbia University Press and has been reprinted in various researcher handbooks. He has chaired the Education and Professional Development Committee of the Council of American Survey Research Organizations (CASRO), served on the CARSO committee on Survey Research Quality and on the CASRO Board of Directors, and has for many years taught in the CASRO Project Director Education Program.
Top of page
Alan Fleischman, MD Dr. Fleischman is Ethics Advisor to the National Children’s Study at the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, NIH, and Senior Advisor at The New York Academy of Medicine. He is also Clinical Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York. Dr. Fleischman has written extensively in the field of neonatal and fetal physiology with a research emphasis on nutrition. He has also written, taught, and lectured about many aspects of the developing field of bioethics, emphasizing the rights of individual patients and the responsibilities of health care professionals. His most noteworthy contributions are in the field of infant and fetal ethics and the translation of ethical principles into medical practice. This work has resulted in over one hundred publications, including his book, edited with Robert Cassidy entitled “Pediatric Ethics—From Principles to Practice,” published by Harwood Press. Dr. Fleischman was a member of the American Academy of Pediatrics National Bioethics Committee on AIDS. He was a member of the National Human Research Protections Advisory Committee for the Office of Human Research Protections in the Department of Health and Human Services from 2001-2002. He is currently a founding member of the New York State Governor's Task Force on Life and the Law (Bioethics Commission), a member of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Human Research Protections’ Subcommittee on Research Involving Children, a member of the Institute of Medicine Committee on Ethical Issues in Housing-Related Health Hazard Research Involving Children Youth, and Families, and a consultant to the March of Dimes where he is Co-chair of the National Bioethics Committee. In addition, he is a member of the Society for Pediatric Research, the American Pediatric Society, the Ambulatory Pediatrics Association, the American Public Health Association, the American Clinical and Climatological Association and a Fellow of The Hastings Center.
Top of page
Heidi Resnick, PhD Dr. Resnick is currently a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at the MUSC. Dr. Resnick received her B.A from the University of Wisconsin-Madison in 1980 and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Indiana University in 1987. Her major research interest is the study of factors involved in the etiology of post-traumatic stress following civilian trauma. Recent research has included the development and evaluation of an early intervention approach to prevent post-rape development of negative mental and physical health outcomes among recent rape victims. This intervention, which is implemented with the medical care setting, is currently being evaluated within a randomized clinical trial study funded by NIDA. Most recently, Dr. Resnick and her Colleagues are in collaboration with researchers at NYAM to evaluate psychoeducational intervention strategies within a sample of New York residents in the aftermath of the September 11th attacks. Dr. Resnick is also the Director of Research Training for the MUSC Predoctoral Psychology Internship program. In that position she oversees ongoing research projects of psychology interns who are each assigned to a primary research mentor for the year. She also coordinates a monthly research seminar for interns and mentors interns in producing a publication-quality research product. She has been mentoring psychology Interns and Postdoctoral fellows for the past 14 years. A number of Dr. Resnick’s former students are now faculty members and NIH-funded researchers. Dr. Resnick also conducts regular didactic seminars for students at NCVC particularly on topics including epidemiology, the assessment of traumatic events and PTSD, empirically supported treatments for PTSD and other psychopathology associated with exposure to traumatic events, specific cognitive behavioral interventions used with PTSD, depression, and panic, early intervention-empirical data and strategies, and physical health. She was recently awarded the AABT Award for Effort and Service in Response to the Events of September 11, 2001 .
Top of page
Kenneth Ruggiero, PhD Dr. Ruggiero received his doctorate in clinical psychology (child track) from West Virginia University in 2001. Following his graduate training, he completed a pre-doctoral internship and NIMH-supported post-doctoral fellowship in clinical psychology at the National Crime Victims Research and Treatment Center of the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC), before being promoted to the faculty as Instructor in 2003. His prior and ongoing research efforts primarily have targeted the relation between potentially traumatic events and short- and long-term behavioral and emotional functioning. Current research interests also include the identification of psychosocial interventions (and components of psychosocial interventions) that moderate the relation between potentially traumatic events and victimization-related emotional, behavioral, and physical health problems. He is past president of the Disasters and Trauma Special Interest Group of the Association for Advancement of Behavior Therapy (AABT) as well as chair of AABT’s Public Education and Media Dissemination Committee and is a member of AABT’s Ad-Hoc Committee on Response to Terrorism. Dr. Ruggiero also recently received a Golden Apple Award for Outstanding New Instructor in MUSC’s Department of Psychiatry.
Top of Page
David Vlahov, PhD Dr. Vlahov has a Ph.D in Epidemiology and the Vice President for Research at the New York Academy of Medicine (NYAM) as well as the Director of the Center for Urban Epidemiologic Studies (CUES) at NYAM. An NIH MERIT award recipient, Dr. Vlahov is also Professor of Clinical Epidemiology at Columbia University of Public Health, Adjunct Professor of Epidemiology at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and Adjunct Professor of Psychiatry at New York University Medical School. Dr. Vlahov is an established investigator with an extensive track record in population and clinical investigation related to mental and substance use, and specifically on the population response to September 11. He has extensive experience in the design, conduct, and analysis of epidemiological studies, including more than 425 publications on related topics. In his experience on the faculty at Johns Hopkins and Columbia University Dr. Vlahov has served on over 100 doctoral committees and been primary advisor for 24 pre and post doctoral students as well as served as sponsor for 8 individual NRSA, 4 NIH Minority Fellowship awards and on 4 institutional NRSA awards. Dr. Vlahov was director of the Doctor of Public Health Program while at Hopkins, which was geared toward applied education for an advanced professional practice degree. He served 5 years on Curriculum Committee. He has taught at Hopkins, Columbia, Mt Sinai Medical School, Cornell Medical School, and Einstein Medical School on Faculty. He has also taught in Italy, the Netherlands, France, and Spain. Dr. Vlahov has received numerous teaching awards. Dr. Vlahov will work closely with Dr. Galea on all steps of this project and specifically brings to the team experience and expertise in study design and grant funding.
Top of page