Center Leadership

Professor Lena M. Lundgren, Ph.D. DIRECTOR Phone: 617-353-1634 Email: llundgre@bu.edu Focus: Addictions Research and Policy

Dr. Lena Lundgren is an Associate Professor of Social Welfare Policy at the Boston University School of Social Work where she has taught and conducted research since 1994. Although born and raised in Sweden, she came to the United States to complete her graduate work, receiving a doctorate from the University of Chicago. Dr. Lundgren’s doctoral training at the University of Chicago was specifically constructed to produce quantitative researchers with the capacity to design large-scale research efforts. To further hone these skills, she participated in a one-year program with the National Opinion Research Center. This allowed Dr. Lundgren to design and direct large-scale longitudinal research efforts at a relatively early stage of her career.

In recent years Dr. Lundgren’s research agenda focuses on large-scale longitudinal research efforts examining the relationships between drug use-HIV and substance abuse treatment utilization. Currently she is directing three five-year efforts totaling $1,600,000 in study funds which have provided more than $6,000,000 for service development in the area of HIV-Substance abuse treatment. The studies examine the effects of (1) trauma counseling and intensive after care outpatient services on drug and alcohol relapse and improved family stability for a population of 450 drug users in residential treatment and (2) the effects of adding intensive case management services to traditional HIV outreach services in order to reduce HIV risky behaviors among two populations of drug users (n= 150, n= 500).

She recently completed a Robert Wood Johnson funded study which collected in-person longitudinal survey data on drug use and HIV risk behaviors from a sample of 700 injection drug users over a period of three years. Findings from this study include identifying mental health status as a key factor associated with emergency room use among injection drug users (Lundgren et al., 2005); that extreme levels of drug treatment use (15 or more drug treatment entries in seven years) are associated with HIV risk behaviors; that mental health status and use of psychopharmacological medication are associated with HIV risk behaviors in a polarized fashion; and that when mental health status is controlled for racial/ethnic differences in needle-sharing are no long significant (Lundgren et al., 2004). Other work on the drug treatment utilization of injection drug users includes the merging and analyses of data from statewide data sets on 55,000 IDUs’ drug treatment and needle-exchange use. Multi-variate analyses were used to examine differences in drug treatment utilization patterns based on factors such as race/ethnicity, education, marital status, health insurance status, type of treatment used and a variety of other factors. Further, she has directed a number of other large-scale, non-drug treatment related research efforts employing survey research techniques to collect data and utilizing a number of quantitative methods in the analyses of these data. Among those studies is an Alfred P. Sloan Foundation-funded survey of 300 individuals, conducted 1996-1999.

Current Ongoing Grants

Lundgren, L. Principal Investigator, Outcome Evaluation of the Relapse Prevention Initiative: Trauma counseling services to drug users. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), Substance Abuse MentalHealth Services Administration. Co-Principal Investigator: Maryann Amodeo.Amount for services: $1,800,000. Amount for research: $400,000.

Lundgren, L Principal Investigator, Outcome Evaluation of Project La Voz, an HIV Prevention. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT), Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. Co-Principal Investigator: Sarah Bachman. Amount for services: $2,500,000. Amount for research: $700,000.

Lundgren, L. Principal Investigator, Drug Treatment Paths and HIV Outcomes of Injection drug usersCo-Principal Investigator: Maryann Amodeo. Center for Substance Abuse Treatment (CSAT) Substance Abuse Mental Health Services Administration. Research Study.
Amount: $500,000

Professor Maryann Amodeo, M.S.W., Ph.D C0-DIRECTOR Phone: 617-353-7916 Email: mamodeo@bu.edu Focus: Clinical Practice and Interdisciplinary Collaborations

Professor Amodeo, an Associate Professor at BUSSW, has more than 20 years of professional experience in the alcoholism and drug abuse fields as a clinician, educator, and researcher. Her research interests include: resilience in women raised in alcoholic families, the impact of substance abuse training on social work practice, the effects of drug treatment on injection drug users, and cross-cultural practice. Her activities have been funded by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, among other organizations. She has received national awards for her pioneering work in integrating substance abuse skills in the social work curriculum. For 15 years, she directed an interdisciplinary Postgraduate Certificate Program in Alcoholism and Drug Abuse from which 300 masters and doctoral-level professionals graduated. She has written and lectured extensively on issues such as denial, countertransference and stages of recovery. For more than 10 years, Dr. Amodeo has been a member of an interdisciplinary organization, the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse (AMERSA), and served as President of the organization beginning in 2003.

Current Ongoing Grants

Co-Investigator. (2003-2008). (PI: MJ Larson, New England Research Institutes). TEACH-CBT. A NIDA RO1 using an experimental and delayed control group design to study the effectiveness of innovative technology for teaching cognitive behavioral skills to teams of substance abuse counselors and their supervisors throughout New England.
Amount: $1.6 million  (Subcontract to BU School of Social Work: $150,000)

Co-Principal Investigator. (2003-2006). (PI: M. Collins, BUSSW). Evaluation of National Child Welfare Training Initiative: Youth Transitioning from Care. Funded by the Children’s Bureau to evaluate the role of training in Child Welfare practice through nine sites nationally.                                                     
Amount: $1. million
                                                                                                                                                            
Co-Investigator. (2001-2006).  (PI: J. Samet, BUMed). Clinical Research Education in Drug Abuse and Addiction. Funded by the NIDA to (a) train physicians in evidenced based practices including brief intervention methods, and (b) incorporate evidenced-based treatment methods into the programs of community based drug treatment agencies.                                           
Amount: $ 1.6 million  (Subcontract to BU School of Social Work: $250,000)

Professor Melvin Delgado, Ph.D. Co-DIRECTOR Phone: 617-353-7722 Email: delgado@bu.edu Focus: Program Development and Addictions Research

Dr. Delgado has been a faculty member at Boston University School of Social Work since 1979, and Chair of Macro-Practice since 1990.  Dr. Delgado has focused his research and scholarship on urban communities of color with particular attention to Latinos, and ways that collaboration can be established between organizations and indigenous community institutions. Since 1995, he has been the P.I. or Co-P.I. of over $3.5 million in grant support, including a NIDA grant for the establishment of a Center on Substance Abuse and Communities of Color at the School of Social Work. Much of his research thrust has been focused on developing a greater understanding of community cultural assets and how they can be incorporated into program design and planning. The use of urban nontraditional settings and community capacity enhancement has resulted in a number of pilot programs such as collaboration between health centers and botanical shops, use of Latina beauty parlors, and reaching out to Latino Pentecostal Churches to better serve the needs of Latinos who are abusing drugs. In addition, Dr. Delgado has paid close attention to programming involving urban youth conducting research, health promotion, and community organizing. The twenty-first century presents the social work profession with many challenges and opportunities. One of the biggest challenges will be how to conduct practice in undervalued urban communities, particularly those that are of color and low-income. Cities are undergoing rapid changes in ethnic and racial composition, necessitating practice and research approaches that are culturally competent and systematically build upon community assets. This charge is particularly relevant in the area of substance abuse in the nation’s urban areas where people of color are numerically highly concentrated.