Building Programs of Behavioral and Social Research with the NIDCR

The first speaker has been a program officer in the Behavioral and Social Sciences Research Branch (BSSRB) in the NIDCR since 2009. He maintains a portfolio of grants focusing on Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) and other health services research in the dental setting. In addition to his grant portfolio and BSSRB outreach efforts, Dr. Clark is an active member of several trans‐NIH initiatives including the Basic Behavioral and Social Sciences Opportunity Network (OppNet), The NIH Adherence Research Network, and the Common Fund, aka Roadmap, Health Economics for Healthcare Reform initiative. Prior to joining the NIDCR, Dr. Clark has an extensive history in the substance abuse field including one year in the Division of Epidemiology, Services and Prevention Research at NIDA, four years of research at the University of Kentucky Center on Drug and Alcohol Research, and over 13 years of direct patient care at the VA Medical Center San Diego. Dr. Clark received his DrPH in epidemiology from the University of Kentucky and his MPH in health services administration from San Diego State University.

The second speaker earned a bachelor's degree in psychology from the University of California, Los Angeles in 1991. During her time at UCLA Melissa learned behavioral approaches for treating autism, for conducting in-home family therapy, and for data management for community-based studies on HIV risk. In the year prior to entering graduate school, Melissa worked for an LA-based consulting company that provided research design, measurement and analysis consultation to community-based organizations focused on social outreach to vulnerable populations. Melissa earned a doctorate in clinical psychology from the University of Arizona in 1998. Her doctoral research combined family therapy and health psychology, asking questions related to how patients and their families cope with chronic or serious illness. Melissa completed her clinical internship year at the Long Beach VA Medical Center, providing clinical care for veterans and their families for a variety of health and psychosocial concerns, including chronic pain, HIV, and dementia. During her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania, her research and clinical care focused on the psychosocial impact of genetic testing for breast and ovarian cancer for women and their families. In 2001, Melissa joined the National Institute on Drug Abuse at the National Institutes of Health, overseeing a grants program on behavioral treatments for drug addiction and HIV risk behavior. She joined the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research in 2007, as chief of a new branch on behavioral and social sciences research. In 2008, she also became the coordinator of nine large research consortia whose purpose is to bring an interdisciplinary approach to solving complex health problems.