Dr. Alissa Davis, who joined SIG in 2018, was recently granted tenure at Columbia University. This is a tremendous milestone and a major accomplishment in her career, demonstrating her outstanding scholarship and important contributions to the University.
An expert in citizen science, stigma, and mental health, Dr. Davis works extensively with the Global Health Research Center of Central Asia in Kazakhstan, where her research explores complex, pressing topics such as increasing HIV testing uptake among vulnerable groups. In her United States-based work, she has studied the long-term effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on teenagers in New York City and was part of the HEALing Communities Study team, where she looked at the intervention's effect on opioid use stigma.
Dr. Davis currently leads a portfolio of studies that use citizen science methods and digital and AI-based tools to improve engagement in care for HIV, STIs, substance use, and mental health, and to reduce the stigma that keeps people from seeking help. Her current projects include:
Songbird Study (PI): A NIDA-funded R34 grant that uses citizen science to engage survivors of sex trafficking in developing digital messaging to increase uptake of remote sexual health testing and overdose prevention.
KZ Dental Study (PI): A Fogarty-funded R01 cluster randomized trial in Kazakhstan using incognito standardized patients to provide more objective measures of HIV and substance use-related stigma in dental clinics and develop a provider intervention.
Face Forward Study (PI): A Columbia University funded dyad-based study evaluating an AI-based mental health support app for adolescents with facial differences and their caregivers.
MPACT Study (Co-I): A NIDA-funded R61/R33 study testing a clinic-level intervention to improve methadone adherence and retention among opioid treatment programs in the US.
SUPRA Study (Co-I): A NIDA-funded R61/R33 study to evaluate the prevalence of substance use among internally displaced persons in Ukraine and adapt a substance use prevention intervention for this population.
"I am deeply grateful to my mentors, collaborators, students, family, and the communities who have partnered with us in research studies," said Dr. Davis. "Tenure isn't an individual achievement. It reflects years of collaborative work and the dedication of an extraordinary team. I am excited to keep building on that foundation and continue our work to reduce stigma, improve access to care, and promote better health for all."
Prior to joining SIG, Dr. Davis was an NIH T32 postdoctoral research fellow at the HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. She received her PhD in Epidemiology from Indiana University-Bloomington and her MA in International Relations from Syracuse University.
Please join us in congratulating Dr. Davis on this accomplishment!