Who We Are
Learn more about the team
Laura J. Bierut, M.D. – Director
I am a psychiatrist with research interest in genetic studies of smoking behavior, alcohol and drug addiction, and other psychiatric illnesses.
Patricia Cavazos, Ph.D.
I am a psychologist with research interest in the social environmental influences on health behaviors.
Li-Shiun Chen, M.D., M.P.H., Sc.D.
I am a psychiatrist with research interest in improving clinical care of smoking cessation.
Sarah Hartz, M.D., Ph.D.
I am a psychiatrist trying to understand why people with severe mental illness use a lot of substances.
Alex T. Ramsey, Ph.D.
I am an organizational psychologist with research interest in the implementation of effective treatments for substance use disorders.
Kevin Y Xu MD MPH
I am an addiction psychiatrist and health services researcher interested in using administrative claims to test how clinical trial findings generalize to marginalized patient populations.
Richard A. Grucza, Ph.D., MPE
Saint Louis University Affiliate
I am an epidemiologist with research interest in the social-environmental and genetic determinants of addiction.
Health & Behavior Research Team
We are a multi-disciplinary team of clinician-scientists conducting research that addresses key public health priorities such as genomics research and substance use epidemiology and policy.