Past Graduate Students

Jenna Dellaccio – Dr. Jenna Dellaccio was a member of the Alcohol Research Lab from 2008–2013. She served as a Research Assistant from 2008-2010, and became a co-lab manager after graduating with her BA in 2010. She also served as a Project Coordinator for Dr. Read’s NIAAA-funded study from 2012-2013. Using data collected from this study, Jenna analyzed drinking motivations in students exhibiting PTSD symptoms to complete her Masters project. Jenna earned her Masters degree under the advisement of Dr. Read in May 2013. She currently works in grant administration, where she assists faculty in securing research grants.

Rachel Bachrach – Dr. Rachel Bachrach is currently an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh (Division of General Internal Medicine) and a Core Investigator at the VA Pittsburgh Healthcare System. Her program of research emphasizes the study of unhealthy alcohol use and its comorbidities, as well as its determinants, consequences, understanding factors that influence receipt of evidence-based alcohol care, and implementing strategies to improve equitable access to evidence-based care. Her research uses both quantitative and qualitative methods to investigate questions of interest. Website: https://www.profiles.dom.pitt.edu/faculty_info.aspx/Bachrach7353

Jessica Blayney  – Jessica Blayney is a Senior Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Washington. Her research focuses on understanding how the socio-environmental context contributes to sexual assault risk as well as variation in the post-assault adaptation process (PTSD, substance use, risky sexual behavior) in heterosexual and sexual minority populations. Website:https://psychiatry.uw.edu/profile/jessica-blayney/

Greg Egerton – Dr. Gregory Egerton completed his pre-doctoral internship at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital in Tampa, Florida. He is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Bay Pines VA Health Care System in Saint Petersburg, Florida focusing on the treatment of substance use disorders and posttraumatic stress disorder.

Sherry Farrow – Dr. Sherry Farrow is a licensed clinical Psychologist in Williamsville NY, where she has a private practice.

Tiffany Jenzer – Dr. Tiffany Jenzer is currently a postdoctoral research associate at the Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS) at Brown University. She graduated with my Ph.D. in clinical psychology at the University at Buffalo in 2021. Her research explores the mechanisms involved in psychological treatments for substance use. She is particularly interested in the way people regulate their emotions, how people learn new emotion regulation skills, and how skill acquisition impacts treatment outcomes.

Melissa Griffin- Dr. Melissa Griffin is the Advanced Practice Clinical Leader in various youth services at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH).  These services include the Youth Addiction and Concurrent Disorders Service, the Substance Abuse Program for African Canadian and Caribbean Youth, and the Youth Urgent Care Clinic.  Melissa/Dr. Griffin is also a licensed clinical psychologist working in private practice with children, adolescents and adults.

Jennifer Merrill – Dr. Jennifer Merrill defended her dissertation, titled “Subjective Evaluations of Alcohol Consequences as Predictors of Subsequent Change in Drinking Behavior” in June 2011. She completed her clinical internship at the Medical University of South Carolina (Charleston Consortium), as well as a research fellowship at Brown University’s Center for Alcohol and Addiction Studies (CAAS), funded by a T32 from NIAAA.  She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Behavioral and Social Sciences at Brown University’s School of Public Health.Website: https://vivo.brown.edu/display/jm114

Sara Miller – Dr. Sara Miller completed a predoctoral internship in Behavioral Medicine at the VA Palo Alto HCS (2020-2021). Currently, she is finishing up her postdoctoral fellowship in Behavioral Medicine at the VA Boston HCS (2021-2022). This fall, she is joining a local telehealth private practice in Boston, MA.

Sharon Radomski – Dr. Sharon Radomski is a licensed Clinical Psychologist working at the Rocky Mountain Regional VA Medical Center. She specializes in the assessment and treatment of trauma-related disorders and is a certified provider in treatments targeting symptoms of PTSD, including Cognitive Processing Therapy, Prolonged Exposure Therapy, and Exposure, Relaxation, and Rescripting Therapy for military populations.  She is currently working with Veterans who have experienced a spinal cord injury. 

Lauren Rodriguez- Dr. Rodriguez is currently a postdoctoral fellow at the Corporal Michael J. Crescenz VA Medical Center in Philadelphia in the Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC). Her research focuses on exploring mechanisms of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder and Substance Use Disorders among Veterans, such as how momentary emotional processes evoked by trauma reminders increase acute risk for substance use. Dr. Rodriguez recently was awarded a MIRECC Pilot grant and will be conducting a study on the feasibility and acceptability of using ecological momentary assessment (EMA) within the VA to expand her graduate research. In the next year, she plans to apply for a VA Career Development Award (CDA) to further her research training and career goals as an independent research psychologist at the VA. Dr. Rodriguez also engages in direct clinical care with special interests in working with Veterans with complex trauma, PTSD, and substance use. She currently serves as the program director of the Contingency Management (CM) program in the Addiction Recovery Unit and is collaborating on writing a treatment manual that will be disseminated nationally to further the implementation of CM within VA. In her free time, she enjoys taking walks with her two Pomeranians, Muffin and Ash, and also loves going salsa dancing! 

Jeffery Wardell- Dr. Jeffrey Wardell is currently an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychology at York University in Toronto, where he is the director of the Behavioural Alcohol and Cannabis (BAC) Lab (https://www.baclab.org/). He also holds appointments as a Collaborator Scientist with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (Canada’s largest mental health science centre) and as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Toronto. Dr. Wardell’s research focuses on risk and protective factors for problematic substance use with a focus on the developmental context of young adulthood. His current research interests involve understanding the combined effects of alcohol and cannabis and investigating the distinctions between medicinal and recreational cannabis use.