We are a skilled and passionate team providing support to and evaluation of the prevention portion of the North Carolina Substance Abuse Prevention and Treatment Block Grant and other substance misuse prevention initiatives.
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Scott D. Rhodes, Ph.D., M.P.H. Dr. Rhodes is a professor in and chair of the Department of Social Science and Health Policy. He has published more than 250 articles and book chapters on the health of vulnerable populations, including immigrants, Latinx persons, and sexual and gender minorities, harnessing community-engaged research approaches such as community-based participatory research (CBPR). An innovator in blending health equity research and practice, Dr. Rhodes has developed, implemented and evaluated more than 15 evidence-based behavioral and community-level prevention interventions for vulnerable and historically marginalized populations. Several are included in the CDC Compendium of Evidence-based Interventions and Best Practices for HIV Prevention. Learn More about Dr. Rhodes’ work |
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Melinda Pankratz, Ph.D., M.P.H. Dr. Pankratz is a Senior Research Associate in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy. She has 20+ years of experience in school and community-based substance misuse prevention research, with a focus on methods for improving prevention practice. This includes designing and testing interventions to improve implementation of prevention curricula, supporting communities in implementing the Strategic Prevention Framework (SPF), building prevention data infrastructure, and creating processes to transform prevention systems. She has provided training and technical assistance on the SPF, such as community assessment, logic model development, and incorporating Social Determinants of Health and the identification of disparities into the assessment process. She has supported prevention strategy implementation across the spectrum of SAMHSAs CSAP 6 strategies and CADCA’s 7 strategies. Learn More about Dr. Pankratz’s work |
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Parissa J. Ballard, Ph.D., M.A. Dr. Ballard is an Assistant Professor of Family and Community Medicine. She is a developmental psychologist with multi-disciplinary training in psychology, education, and population health. Her research focuses on promoting positive youth development and amplifying the voices of youth in the settings that serve them to improve the health of youth and communities. In one current project, she is developing an intervention increasing youth voice to improve substance misuse prevention and in another project she is assessing the effects of a school-based action civics intervention on adolescent well-being through a randomized-controlled trial. She has expertise in adolescent health, lifespan development, substance misuse prevention, diverse youth populations, quantitative and qualitative methods, and community/youth engagement. Learn more about Dr. Ballard's work |
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Justin B. Moore, Ph.D., M.S., F.A.C.S.M. Dr. Moore is an Associate Professor in Implementation Science. He is behavioral scientist who conducts community-engaged research focused on the dissemination and implementation of evidence-based strategies for the promotion of health behaviors in youth and adults. He also conducts epidemiological research examining the behavioral determinants of obesity, cardiometabolic health, and related comorbidities. He is passionate about eliminating health disparities so everyone can live a healthy and fulfilling life regardless of their race, ethnicity, gender, socioeconomic status, or geography. His research has a strong evaluation component; he has led efforts to collect, track, and report outcome and process data to inform data driven decision making on several federally funded community-engaged intervention projects. Learn More about Dr. Moore's work |
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Thomas P. McCoy, Ph.D., PStat. Dr. McCoy is a Clinical Professor and Statistician in the School of Nursing at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. He has 18 years of experience as a study methodologist. He is an Accredited Professional Statistician (PStat) by the American Statistical Association. He has provided methodological, study design, data management and analysis support on several external/NIH funded projects, including in special populations for HIV prevention and substance misuse in college students' youth and young adults. He has contributed to over 130 publications in a biostatistician role. He is especially interested in helping to describe, analyze, and visualize data to help communities reduce substance use and improve health for youth and young adult populations. Learn more about Dr. McCoy’s work |
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Kathleen Egan, Ph.D. Dr. Egan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Health Education and Promotion at East Carolina University. Her research is focused on preventing harms associated with opioid, cannabis, and polysubstance use among adolescents and young adults. Her research involves the development and assessment of substance use prevention strategies that are implemented in community, medical, and academic settings. Learn more about Dr. Egan’s work |
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Kimberly G. Wagoner, Dr.P.H., M.P.H. Dr. Wagoner is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Sciences and Health Policy. She has extensive experience conducting NIH-funded research in substance use prevention among vulnerable populations, including youth and young adults. Her research focuses on understanding the influence of community-level factors such as product availability and marketing that promote the use tobacco, alcohol, and cannabis at the individual and population level. The goal of her research is to inform local, state and federal policy aimed at preventing substance misuse. She has a history of conducting community-engaged research and working with coalitions, Advisory Boards, schools and college campuses to implement substance use prevention interventions and evaluations. Learn more about Dr. Wagoner's work |
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Jennifer Cornacchione Ross, Ph.D. Dr. Ross is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Law, Policy, and Management at Boston University School of Public Health. Dr. Ross utilizes an innovative combination of communication theories and methods, such as iterative message testing, applied to tobacco prevention and control. She has extensive experience leading and collaborating on federally funded research to conduct studies on effective messaging on substances, including tobacco (such as cigars, vaping devices) and cannabis to provide data-driven decision making and policy. She has methodological expertise in experimental design, survey development and implementation, focus groups, and interviews. Learn more about Dr. Ross’s work |
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Jonna Daniel, M.S., B.A. Ms. Daniel is Project Manager II in Social Sciences and Health Policy. She focuses on implementing prevention interventions, wellbeing, and health equity across the lifespan. Her experience includes administering and analyzing assessments, developing learning and course materials for college-age students, and guiding at-risk youth. She collaborates on the evaluation of substance misuse prevention in NC and coordinates the NC statewide prevention survey. She has training in working with LGBTQ+ individuals and is Co-Chair of the Atrium Health White Alliance for Race Equity at Wake Forest University School of Medicine. |
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Renata Yassa, M.P.H., B.S. Ms. Yassa is Project Manager II in Social Sciences and Health Policy. Her expertise is in community-based intervention. She worked as an EMT and has firsthand experience administering naloxone and referring people to treatment. She also has firsthand retail and management experience with tobacco, alcohol, vapes, CBD, Delta 8, Delta 10, and Kratom. She collaborates on the evaluation of substance misuse prevention in NC and coordinates the NC statewide prevention survey. |
We receive funding from Community Wellness, Health Integration, and Prevention Section of the North Carolina Division of Mental Health, Developmental Disabilities, and Substance Abuse Services.