This activity is supported by an educational grant from the National Institute of Mental Health Advanced Laboratories for Accelerating the Reach and Impact of Treatments for Youth and Adults with Mental Illness (ALACRITY) Research Centers (P50).

About the faculty

Arlene Dalcin, MS, RD

Study Team Investigator

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Ms. Dalcin is a Registered Dietician, health educator, and master Motivational Interviewing trainer with over 25 years of experience in clinical research. As a faculty member at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine her focus is on designing interventions and developing trainings for the prevention and treatment of obesity, hypertension and other chronic health conditions. Ms. Dalcin has developed the educational, avatar, and training materials and is the voice behind some of the online training modules featured in this program.

Gail Daumit, MD, MHS

Center Director, Principal Investigator

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Dr. Daumit is a practicing general internist whose research is dedicated to improving the physical health of individuals with serious mental illness and decreasing health disparities in this population. Dr. Daumit is a Samsung Professor of Medicine with joint appointments in the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the School of Medicine. She is the ALACRITY Center Director and has been the principal investigator on many randomized trials implementing programs to improve physical health of individuals with serious mental illness.

Faith Dickerson, PhD, MPH

Co-Principal Investigator

Sheppard Pratt Health System

Dr. Dickerson is a clinical psychologist with public health research training. She has been involved in many studies that address interventions to reduce cardiovascular risk and improve the somatic health of persons with mental illness. She has co-directed trials of psychosocial interventions to promote smoking cessation for persons with serious mental illness. Dr. Dickerson directs the Stanley Research Program at Sheppard Pratt Health System.

Joseph Gennusa, PhD, RD, LDN

Community Engagement Core Co-Director

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Dr. Gennusa is a Registered Dietician with a doctorate in Health Administration and has directed community nutrition programs in state government. He has extensive experience in high quality data collection in community health settings in a wide array of measures. As Project Director, Dr. Gennusa will work closely with Drs. Daumit and Dickerson on study operations.

Stacy Goldsholl, MA

Intervention Director

Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Ms. Goldsholl is a kinesiologist and works closely with Ms. Dalcin. She has experience designing, developing content for, and managing lifestyle interventions for persons with serious mental illness including weight loss and smoking cessation. Ms. Goldsholl is extensively trained in Motivational Interviewing and supports interventionists to use a patient-centered approach.

Eden Evins, MD, MPH

William Cox Family Professor of Psychiatry

Harvard Medical School

Director, Center for Addiction Medicine, Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Evins is a psychiatrist whose research focuses on the efficacy of pharmacotherapeutic cessation aids in smokers with and without serious mental illness. Dr. Evins’ studies have led to changes in clinical practice guidelines for smoking cessation for those with serious mental illness. She has extensive experience in directing studies on smoking cessation conducted in community mental health centers. Dr. Evins is the Director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Center for Addiction Medicine.

Cori Cather, PhD

Associate Professor of Psychology

Harvard Medical School

Director, Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research, Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Cather is a clinical psychologist whose research focuses on psychosocial interventions to promote physical health among individuals with early psychosis and also those with persistent mental health challenges. She has also developed evidence-based psychosocial smoking cessation interventions. Dr. Cather is the Director of the Center of Excellence for Psychosocial and Systemic Research at the Massachusetts General Hospital Schizophrenia Program in Boston.