Our Team
Describe your team here.
I’m excited to start this new journey with SIG! I’m passionate about developing interventions to improve the well-being of marginalized children and youth. I look forward to the learning opportunities at SIG.
Dr. Susan Witte’s research focuses on the development and testing of prevention and treatment interventions targeting the co-occurrence of HIV/AIDS risk behaviors, substance abuse, and interpersonal violence among vulnerable populations.
University Professor Dr. Nabila El-Bassel is a top-cited intimate partner violence, HIV, and substance use researcher focused on marginalized communities.
Since she co-founded SIG in 1990 Dr. Nabila El-Bassel has used science to bring evidence-based solutions to social and health problems. In 2019, Dr. El-Bassel received Columbia University's highest academic honor when she was appointed to the rank of University Professor.
Maria Cedeno is the Director of Administration and Finance for SIG.
As a survivor of intimate partner violence myself, I am honored to work at SIG. The research conducted at SIG emphasizes the people and experiences that have been historically overlooked in the field of intervention development. I am excited to learn from an amazing team of thinkers who are pushing boundaries!
Dr. Lynn Murphy Michalopoulos has an extensive background in clinical social work and research related to trauma and HIV.
Dr. Gilbert's research focuses on developing and evaluating interventions that address gender-based violence, substance misuse and HIV among women.
Executive Assistant to Dr. Nabila El-Bassel
Dr. Wu's HIV prevention and intervention research emphasizes social justice and ameliorating health disparities by targeting “-isms.”
Eleni Vlachos formerly directed the marketing and communications function for SIG.
Associate Professor Desmond Upton Patton’s research uses qualitative and computational data collection methods to examine the relationship between youth and gang violence and social media; how and why violence, grief, and identity are expressed on social media; and the real world impact these expressions have on well-being for low-income youth of color.
Dr. Goddard-Eckrich develops and implements programs and interventions to address health disparities affecting underserved populations.
Dr. Claudia Stoicescu’s research explores the impact of police enforcement activities on HIV risk, prevention and treatment outcomes among marginalized populations, including women who inject drugs and persons involved with the criminal justice system. Her research is rooted in participatory, community-based approaches and employs integrated knowledge translation to inform appropriate interventions and relevant policy decisions.
At SIG, Dr. Stoicescu will examine the gendered impacts of policing on health HIV outcomes of people who use drugs with Drs. El-Bassel and Gilbert.
Cheryl is the Associate Director of the Criminal Justice Initiative: Supporting Children, Families, and Communities (CJI), where she works with teens who have an incarcerated parent, and the Senior Director of Education and Programs at Columbia University’s Center for Justice where her work is committed to reducing the nation’s reliance on incarceration, developing new approaches to safety and justice, and participating in the national and global conversation around developing effective criminal justice policy.
Focus: Social determinants of health and mental health care, sleep, cardiovascular health disparities, and Latino immigrant health. Use quantitative and qualitative methods to examine how understudied aspects of the migration, socioeconomic, and psychosocial context contribute in unique ways to mental health, sleep, and cardiovascular health risk behaviors and outcomes.
Utilizing mixed method, network, and intervention approaches, Dr. Brooke West's research focuses on the social, economic, physical and policy factors underlying disparities in health among marginalized and criminalized populations. Her scholarship is situated at the intersection of social justice and health, centering primarily on the social determinants of substance use and HIV/STI, with newer work examining violence exposure and reproductive health.
Audrey Ward is the Associate Director of Operations for SIG.
Dr. Alissa Davis conducts research on linkage to and retention in HIV, sexually transmitted infections (STI), and substance use care among marginalized populations, including racial/ethnic and sexual minorities, people who inject drugs, and individuals involved with the criminal justice system.