Adolescent SBIRT

Ken C. Winters, PhD, is a Senior Scientist at the Oregon Research Institute and Adjunct Faculty in the Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota. Dr. Winters retired as a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Minnesota, where he founded and directed the Center for Adolescent Substance Abuse Research for 25 years. Dr. Winters received his BA from the University of Minnesota and a PhD in Psychology (Clinical) from the State University of New York at Stony Brook. His primary research interests are the assessment and treatment of addictions, including adolescent drug abuse and problem gambling. His recent work in the field has focused on brief interventions and the SBIRT model to address adolescents who are mild-to-moderate drug users and have co-existing behavioral problems. Along with Keven Sabet, he co-edited Contemporary Health Issues on Marijuana, published in 2018 by Oxford University Press, and also co-edited the 2nd edition of Clinical manual of adolescent addictive disorders, published in 2019 by the American Psychiatric Association. He is on the editorial boards of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, Journal of Child and Adolescent Substance Abuse, and the Psychology of Addictive Behaviors. Dr. Winters received numerous research grants from the National Institute of Health and various foundations and published over 125 peer-reviewed articles over a 30-year period. He was the 2008 recipient of the Research to Evidence-Based Practice Award from a national organization on effective treatment for adolescents (JMATE), and received in 2005 the Senior Investigator Award by the National Center for Responsible Gaming (NCRG). Dr. Winters is a frequent speaker and trainer, and a consultant to many organizations, including Hazelden Betty Ford Foundation, NCRG, NORC’s Adolescent SBIRT Steering Committee, Institute for Behavior and Health, Inc., Florida International University’s Office of Research and Economic Development, Smart Approaches to Marijuana- MN Affiliate, and the Mentor Foundation (an international drug abuse prevention organization).

Brett Harris, DrPH, is the Director of Public Health Initiatives at the Suicide Prevention Office of the New York State Office of Mental Health (OMH). In this role, Dr. Harris oversees initiatives related to schools, colleges/universities, communities, and the relationship between substance use and suicide and works with large health systems and community providers to integrate suicide safer care into multiple service settings. Dr. Harris is also a Clinical Assistant Professor at the University at Albany School of Public Health where she is designing a course in suicide prevention and collaborating on alcohol and drug prevention and early intervention projects. Prior to joining OMH and the University at Albany, Dr. Harris developed, implemented, and evaluated alcohol and drug Screening, Brief Intervention, and Referral to Treatment (SBIRT) projects with the New York State Office of Alcoholism and Substance Abuse Services (OASAS). Dr. Harris serves on the Board of Directors of the New York State Public Health Association and was selected for the de Beaumont Foundation’s inaugural cohort of 40 under 40 Public Health Leaders. She received her Doctor and Master of Public Health from the University at Albany and Bachelor of Science from Cornell University.

Carolyn Swenson, MSPH, MSN, RN, is trained as a registered nurse, family nurse practitioner, and public health professional. She is currently an independent SBIRT consultant. She also provides QPR suicide prevention training to professionals and community groups, and motivational interviewing training to primary care professionals and community health workers. Over the course of her career, she has worked as a public health nurse on the Navajo Reservation, with migrant farm workers in rural Colorado, in refugee healthcare in Africa, with immigrant survivors of torture, coordinating population-based research in rural Colorado, and on quality improvement in primary care.