Featured Faculty: Dr. Carl Lejuez
October 2005

Carl W. Lejuez received his Ph.D. in 2000 from West Virginia University. He joined the Clinical Psychology Program at the University of Maryland in 2001.

He has recently been awarded:

• A RO1 grant from NIDA in the amount of $1,100,000.00 in total costs: "Behavioral Treatment for Depressed Smokers".

Smokers with elevated depressive symptoms are at high risk for smoking relapse in the context of a cessation attempt, and previous efforts have yet to develop an approach that reliably improves smoking outcomes with this at-risk group. Thus, the overall objective of this research program is to utilize behavioral activation strategies in the development of a novel, uncomplicated approach to smoking cessation treatment for smokers with elevated depressive symptoms, with a focus on reducing depressive symptoms in order to facilitate successful cessation. Specifically, smokers with elevated depressive symptoms will be recruited and randomly assigned to either: 1) standard smoking cessation treatment and nicotine replacement therapy (ST) or 2) a behavioral activation treatment for smoking (BAT-S), comprised of ST and behavioral activation strategies aimed at reducing elevated depressive symptoms. We expect these results to indicate the efficacy of our approach as well as directions for future modification and improvement of the approach, with the ultimate goal of helping this at-risk group quit smoking for good.

• A supplement to his RO1 on Distress Tolerance and Smoking Cessation
  in the amount of $74,000.00

The purpose of this supplement is to allow for the examination of cortisol as a biological indicator of early lapse to smoking to compliment our behavioral measures of distress intolerance in a previous funded study.

• A grant from NIH to study "Behavioral Technologies for Predicting
  HIV Risk" in the amount of $1,700,000.00 in total costs.
  
  This grant is a 5-year longitudinal investigation that will test the utility of a computerized risk taking assessment measure developed by Dr. Lejuez as a prospective predictor of the emergence of HIV risk taking behaviors (e.g., drug use, risky sexual behavior) in a sample of 300 inner-city adolescents. Implications of this study include the development of a comprehensive assessment methodology for identifying strengths and weakness of particular adolescents that may be targeted in individualized HIV prevention programs. Local collaborators include Andrea Chronis and Forest Tyler.


• The New Researcher Award from the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies (ABCT) based on the following paper * Lejuez, C. W., Paulson, A., Daughters, S. B., Bornovalova, M.A., and Zvolensky, M. J., "The Association Between Heroin Use and Anxiety Sensitivity Among Inner-City Individuals in Residential Drug Use Treatment," in Behavior Research and Therapy.

Professor Lejuez' overall total funding to date is approximately 4.6 million with over 4 million still active.

 

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