I work as a Program Manager and Clinician Investigator with the Southeast Louisiana Veterans Health Care System (SLVHCS) and the South Central Mental Illness Research, Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC), and hold academic appointments as an Assistant Professor in the School of Medicine at Louisiana State University and the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Tulane University. My program of research focuses on the identification and examination of risk and maintenance factors, as well as the development and refinement of novel interventions for anxiety, trauma, and related sequelae, namely substance use (including tobacco use). To date, I have published 131 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 36 of which are first-authored. Of relevance to the Louisiana Cancer Research Center, 18 of these manuscripts focus directly on the relationship between cognitive affective risk factors (e.g., anxiety sensitivity and emotion regulation) and tobacco use, as well as interventions designed to indirectly decrease tobacco use.
My program of research focuses on the identification and examination of risk and maintenance factors, as well as the development and refinement of novel interventions for anxiety, trauma, and related sequelae, namely substance use (including tobacco use). I have conducted this research using a translational approach. Within this framework, basic laboratory science is carried out with the goal of informing clinical practice. In turn, knowledge gleaned from the clinical arena reciprocally informs basic science methodologies. I have carried out this research using theory driven frameworks, multi-method assessments (e.g., quantitative and qualitative), and various methodological designs (e.g., cross-sectional, prospective, clinical trials), as these approaches are necessary for translating basic risk factor research into efficacious prevention and intervention programs.
To date, I have published 131 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 36 of which are first-authored, and received support for my work through various internal (Department of Veterans Affairs) and external agencies (American Public Health Association). Of relevance to the Louisiana Cancer Research Center, 18 of these manuscripts focus directly on tobacco use. In particular, through my work I have sought to better understand the relationship between various cognitive affective risk factors (e.g., anxiety sensitivity and emotion regulation) and smoking, as well as barriers to cessation. In addition, I have collaborated on several studies examining the effects of anxiety risk reduction interventions on smoking abstinence and assisted with the development of an educational video about a smoking cessation quit line. In this line of work, I have also examined the implications of tobacco use on various physical health problems including BMI and COVID-19 deaths. In sum, I believe my cancer-related research is directly relevant to the Louisiana Cancer Research Center and in particular, the Cancer Population Sciences and Disparities program.
