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CSAT National Advisory Council Members Biographical Information

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CSAT National Advisory Council Members Biographies

MEMBERS

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS

  • The Honorable Xavier Becerra, Acting Secretary, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services
  • Miriam E. Delphin-Rittmon, Ph.D., Assistant Secretary for Mental Health and Substance Use, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration
  • David J. Smith, M.D., Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Health Affairs, U.S. Department of Defense
  • George F. Koob, Ph.D., Director, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism
  • Nora D. Volkow, M.D., National Institute on Drug Abuse​
  • The Honorable Denis Richard McDonough, Secretary, Veterans Affairs

Dianne L. Clarke, Ph.D.
Dianne Clarke, Ph.D. is the Chief Executive Officer of Operation PAR, Inc. and has more than 40 years of experience in the field of substance use disorder treatment. As one of the original individuals to be certified as an Addiction Professional in Florida, Dr. Clarke has experience in all phases of substance use treatment for both adolescents and adults including; detoxification, residential treatment and all levels of outpatient treatment to include medication assisted treatment. Dr. Clarke is also one of the first individuals certified by the Florida Certification Board as a Telehealth Practitioner. Dr. Clarke is responsible for the operational activities for comprehensive behavioral health services for more than 17 programs in eight counties in Florida. Dr. Clarke is an Executive Board Member of the Florida Behavioral Health Association, Co-Chair of the Pinellas County Opiate Task Force and a board member of the Pinellas County Substance Abuse Advisory Board and Public Safety Council.

Ruchi M. Fitzgerald, M.D., FAAFP
Ruchi M. Fitzgerald, M.D., FAAFP, is a board-certified family physician and fellowship-trained addiction medicine physician. Dr. Fitzgerald has extensive experience in caring for persons affected by substance use disorders, particularly in urban-underserved and rural-underserved regions. Dr. Fitzgerald has utilized the experience as a person in long-term recovery to initiate educational initiatives surrounding stigma reduction and promote evidence-based practices at Rush University and in the community. Dr. Fitzgerald has worked closely with Illinois SAMHSA State Opioid Response on several initiatives, including the SAMHSA state pilot grant for treatment for pregnant and postpartum women.

Wesley L. Geminn, PharmD, BCPP
Wesley L. Geminn, PharmD, BCPP, is the Chief Pharmacist and SOTA Authority for the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services' Division of Clinical Leadership. Dr. Geminn graduated from the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy and completed a post-graduate residency in managed care and psychiatry with the Tennessee Department of Mental Health and Substance Abuse Services. He is currently board-certified in psychiatry by the Board of Pharmaceutical Specialties.

Tara Moseley Hyde
Tara Moseley Hyde holds a dual master’s degree from American University School of Public Health focused on public administration and public policy. She holds a bachelor’s degree in public policy and pre-law where she interned at the legislative research commission on the health and welfare committee. This was where Tara found her passion for public policy and research. Tara is a person in long term recovery and has been in recovery since 2011. In May of 2014, she began working with Young People in Recovery which led to the development of twelve chapters across the state. She was named Vice President of Programs and was instrumental in the expansion of the organization. Most recently, Tara was welcomed as the new Chief Executive Officer of People Advocating Recovery (PAR). Tara has worked with universities across the country to develop recovery support services for young adults on college campuses. Tara has assisted in the development of human resource policies & procedures for employers across the country that support people who identify with substance use disorder to have a successful return to the workforce. She has worked with SAMSHA, BRAS TACS, Department of Corrections, and other state agencies such as Departments of Behavioral health to design a standard for youth, young adults, and justice involved persons for recovery peer support services. She continues to bring awareness of recovery-centered approaches across the country in every sector.

Lois M. Jircitano, Ph.D., J.D., M.A., B.S.
Lois M. Jircitano, Ph.D., J.D., M.A., B.S., is a member of the Haudenosaunee Confederacy, Mohawk Nation Bear Clan. She provided legal advocacy, policy development and legislative/regulatory guidance to the Tuscarora Indian Nation of New York; served as In-House Legal Counsel to the Seneca Nation of Indians (NY); and has engaged in ongoing environmental research for the protection of drinking water supply in Haudenosaunee communities. Dr. Jircitano was instrumental in developing a training program for members of five Confederacy Nations, working with the SUNY Buffalo Institute for Trauma and Informed Trauma Care program to address Native drug use and suicide in their home communities. She has an earned Doctorate (Ph.D.) in Educational Leadership, Administration and Policy; a Doctorate of Law and Jurisprudence from the State University at Buffalo, School of Law, and a Master’s Degree in Indigenous Studies. Her career includes: fourteen years as an Associate Professor in Educational Leadership & Policy; Assistant Legal Counsel at the New York State Education Department; and many years representing Native women in the Family Court actions protecting parental rights in Indian Child Welfare Act proceedings.

Charisse Evonne Peoples, Ph.D.
Charisse Evonne Peoples, Ph.D., is a licensed psychologist with experience in providing psychological evaluation and therapeutic services for adults and children of all ages. She was pivotal in implementing evidence-based practices of core correctional intervention strategies, including Motivational Interviewing and Cognitive Behavioral Intervention techniques, to reduce recidivism and relapse rates for those in the criminal justice system in Washington, DC. Dr. Peoples has expertise in both Criminal Justice and African American Minority Population.

Jorge R. Petit, M.D.
Jorge R. Petit, M.D. is a community psychiatrist and healthcare executive leader leading the sector to innovate and transform healthcare for those most in need and vulnerable--people with intellectual and developmental disabilities, those struggling with mental health and substance use challenges, individuals in poverty, facing eviction or homelessness, and all those marginalized, unemployed and disadvantaged. Promoting social justice action-oriented approaches to increase access to: health and behavioral health supports, services and treatment; safe and dignified affordable/supportive housing settings; education and meaningful employment opportunities as well as ensuring social drivers of inequity like food insecurity, unsafe neighborhoods and lack of transportation are eradicated and intentional and deliberative grass-roots community building and engagement. Leadership through compassion, humility and bringing one's authentic self to serving others in need.

Dr. Petit was most recently the President and CEO for Services for the UnderServed (S:US); a community-based nonprofit that drives scalable solutions to transform the lives of people with disabilities, people in poverty, and people facing homelessness: solutions that contribute to righting societal imbalances.

Dr. Petit is extensively published as an expert in health and behavioral health. Prior to S:US, Dr. Petit was the President and CEO for Coordinated Behavioral Care (CBC), a not-for-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of care for individuals with serious mental illness, chronic health conditions and/or substance use disorders, through a Health Home, an Independent Practice Association (IPA) and an Innovations Hub.

Dr. Petit was the Regional Senior Vice President for New York State for Beacon Health Options and before that was the Founder and President of Quality Healthcare Solutions, a consulting firm that provided training and consulting services for healthcare systems including community-based behavioral health agencies, hospital systems, and local and state regulatory entities. He was the former Associate Commissioner for the Division of Mental Hygiene in the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.

Dr. Petit sits on the board of Primary Care Development Corporation (PCDC) and Mental Health News Education (MHNE); is a Distinguished Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association (APA) and a member of the Committee on Psychiatric Administration & Leadership in the Group for the Advancement of Psychiatry (GAP), United Hospital Fund (UHF) Health Policy Forum, as well as a member of the National Council for Mental Wellbeing’s Medical Director Institute (MDI).

Dr. Petit is the author of Handbook of Emergency Psychiatry and The Seven Beliefs: A Step-by-Step Guide to Help Latinas Recognize and Overcome Depression and the recipient of the Schiff Community Impact Award from The Jewish Board, the 2017 Greater Good Honoree, Corporate Social Responsibility Award, 2018 Heritage Healthcare Organizational Leadership Award and the Community Partnerships Award, Virtual Community Partners Award from Federation of Organizations (FOO), Crain’s New York Business 2022 Notable LGBTQ Leader, City & State New York 2022 Nonprofit Power 100, and City & State New York 2022 Responsible 100.

Kenneth B. Stoller, M.D.
Dr. Stoller is a Professor of Clinical Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, and Director of the Johns Hopkins Broadway Center for Addiction. His area of expertise is treatment and clinical research involving substance use problems and, in particular, the use of methadone and buprenorphine. His research interests have centered on cost issues as they relate to drug abuse and treatment, methods to enhance treatment adherence and retention, and co-occurring psychiatric, medical, pain, and substance use disorders. Published manuscripts and book chapters focus on the use of adaptive stepped care, treatment incentives, and integrated treatment of co-occurring disorders in a single setting. Through his work at Johns Hopkins Health Plans, currently serving as the Medical Director, Behavioral Health, he has developed a related focus on fostering policies and initiatives applied in managed care settings to improve health outcomes and control costs, such as increasing the identification and treatment of substance use disorder and coordinating treatment of general somatic, mental health, and substance use disorders. Accelerated by his service on the board of the American Association for the Treatment of Opioid Dependence, and on the Maryland state chapter, he has refocused his academic work on the pursuit of increasing access to, and quality of, medication-assisted therapies in Baltimore, in Maryland, and nationally. This work has received intense attention over the past two years, especially as it relates to coordinated care using opioid treatment programs as hubs of expertise and coordinating with community physicians prescribing medications for opioid use disorder. Dr. Stoller created and implemented the first known buprenorphine hub and spoke collaborative care model in the nation, and this is the subject of numerous presentations, webinars, and white papers.

Emily Tanner-Smith, Ph.D.
Emily Tanner-Smith, Ph.D., is a Thomson Professor in the Counseling Psychology and Human Services Department, a research scientist at the Prevention Science Institute, and Executive Director of the HEDCO Institute for Evidence-Based Educational Practice. Her Ph.D. is in sociology from Vanderbilt University with an emphasis in quantitative methods and statistics. She is an applied research methodologist with expertise in meta-analysis and research synthesis for evidence-based decision-making. Her scholarship focuses on preventing and treating substance use, delinquency, mental health, and academic problems among youth. She was awarded the Nan Tobler Award from the Society for Prevention Research and the Robert Boruch Award from the Campbell Collaboration. Dr. Tanner-Smith currently serves on the editorial boards for Psychological Bulletin, Prevention Science, and Research Synthesis Methods. Her research has been funded by numerous foundations, state, and federal agencies, including the Institute of Education Sciences, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, National Institute of Justice, and the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention.

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