José Szapocznik, Ph.D.
Dr. Szapocznik has been serving as a Principal Investigator (PI) of the FNA since its inception in 2000. He is Chair Emeritus of the Department of Public Health Sciences, Director of the Center for Family Studies, and Founder and Honorary Director of the University of Miami-based Miami Clinical Translational Science Institute. Dr. Szapocznik is an accomplished researcher, having received over $120 million in NIH funding. As PI of the FNA, Dr. Szapocznik is a leader in the national initiative to translate effective substance use disorder treatments into clinical practice by engaging medical, community primary care and specialty substance use treatment sites in conducting randomized clinical trials. Dr. Szapocznik’s primary research interests include the prevention and treatment of adolescent substance abuse, with a focus on minority populations. Dr. Szapocznik led the CTN 0014 study and its extended follow-up study, and co-led CTN 0021. Dr. Szapocznik held a number of policy advisory roles including membership in the NIH National Advisory Councils for the National Institute of Mental Health, the National Institute on Drug Abuse and the National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities. He was a founding member and the first behavioral scientist to be appointed to the NIH-wide AIDS Program Advisory Committee (now the National Advisory Council for the NIH Office of AIDS).
Lisa R. Metsch, Ph.D.
Dr. Metsch has been serving as a PI of the FNA since 2010. She is the Dean of the Columbia University School of General Studies and Professor of Sociomedical Sciences in the Mailman School of Public Health at Columbia University. For over two decades, Dr. Metsch’s research efforts focus on epidemiologic and intervention studies that address the primary and secondary prevention needs of people at risk for and living with HIV, particularly persons with substance use disorders. Through her research, she developed and evaluated strategies to address the HIV and Hepatitis C continua of care by increasing testing and engagement of substance-using and non-using populations in medical care. Dr. Metsch’s research team is based at the Columbia University Department of Sociomedical Sciences Miami Research Center in Miami, FL. Through this Center, she and her team implement and oversee research projects in South Florida, Atlanta, GA, Puerto Rico and throughout the United States. In the CTN, Dr. Metsch led CTN 0032, Project AWARE, CTN 0049, and CTN 0064, was the site PI for CTN 0047, and is the Co-Lead PI for CTN 0104 and 0121. Dr. Metsch is also the PI of 3 R01 implementation science studies funded by NIDA to enhance the HIV/HCV continua of care for opioid users and other drug users and she co-directs (with Nabila El-Bassel) a NIDA-funded T32 training grant focused on HIV, substance use, and the criminal justice system.
Daniel Feaster, Ph.D.
Dr. Feaster has been serving as a PI of the FNA since January 2018. He is Professor of Biostatistics within the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine. Dr. Feaster is a methodologist and expert in trial design, including planning for variability in treatment effects across locations, planning trials to allow examination of subgroup effects, and handling missing data. Dr. Feaster’s area of specialization is longitudinal and multi-level modeling of correlated data. His research interests include statistical methods for clinical trials and effectiveness research, multi-level modeling, Structural Equations Modeling, family-based health-related interventions, drug abuse, HIV/AIDS, and minority health disparities. Given his crosscutting expertise, Dr. Feaster provides support to all FNA trials. In the CTN, Dr. Feaster co-led Project AWARE and CTN 0064, and is the node protocol PI for CTN 0067. Dr. Feaster is also the PI of two R01 implementation science studies focusing on the HIV/HCV continua of care for substance users and was the PI of a PCORI funded study to develop random forest methods and software for identifying person-specific treatment effects. Dr. Feaster co-directs (with Dr. Viviana Horigian and Dr. Sannisha Dale) a NIDA-funded T32 training program focused on HIV and mental health.
Viviana Horigian, M.D.
Dr. Horigian has been involved with the FNA for 20 years. She served as Node Coordinator since 2006 and is now serving as the Executive Director of the Florida Node Alliance since 2011. She is a Professor within the Department of Public Health Sciences at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, Director of Public Health Education at the University of Miami, and Director of the Americas Initiative for Public Health Innovation. Dr. Horigian has extensive trial management experience in both pharmaceutical and behavioral trials. Her research interests are focused on improving practice through the implementation of clinical trials in real world settings and in developing the local infrastructure and capacity needed for the implementation of such trials. Dr. Horigian led a technology transfer project that resulted in the formation of a clinical trials network in Mexico, housed at Mexico’s National Institute of Psychiatry; and used the same technology transfer methodology to develop research capacity in Ecuador and Chile. She served as node protocol PI on the following CTN studies: 0031, 0031A, 0037, 0047, 0051, 0074, 0080 and 0100. Dr. Horigian co-directs (with Dr. Daniel Feaster and Dr. Sannisha Dale) a NIDA-funded T32 training program focused on HIV and mental health.
