Faculty Bios
At the University of Maryland School of Social Work, our faculty members are consistently ranked among the most active and productive social work scholars and researchers in the nation.
Not only are our faculty engaged in teaching, research, and practice, but they are also accessible and dedicated to meeting students' needs outside of the classroom.
Faculty Specialty Areas
Haksoon Ahn, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Child Welfare and Family Welfare; Quality Assurance (QA) and Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI) in Child Welfare; Family-Centered Practice (FCP), Foster Parents; Welfare Policy, Poverty, Inequality, Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF), and Child Care; Economic Analysis, Administrative data; US Census Bureau’s Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP) Panel Data
Email: hahn@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-4704 | Room: 3W09
Richard P. Barth, Dean of the School of Social Work and Professor
Research Interests: He has directed more than 50 studies and perhaps, most significantly, served as Principal Investigator of Berkeley’s Child Welfare Research Center from 1990 to 1996 and as Co-Principal Investigator of the National Survey of Child and Adolescent Well-Being, the first national study of child welfare services in the US.
Email: rbarth@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7794 | Room: 5E14A
Research Interests: Children, Youth, and Families; Community, Poverty, and Social Justice; Crime/Criminal Justice/Delinquency; Health; Homelessness; Housing; Management; Mental Health; Policy; Religion; Substance Abuse; Alcohol, Tobacco, and Other Drugs; Violence
Email: jbelcher@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3613 | Room: 3E11
Melissa Bellin, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Child and Family Adaptation to Chronic Illness and Disability; Developmental Disabilities; Family Centered Care; Interdisciplinary Collaboration; Social Work Practice in Health Care
Email: mbellin@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-4409 | Room: 3E43
Aaron Betsinger, Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Juvenile Justice; Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System; Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices; Federal Criminal Sentencing
Email: abetsinger@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-4174 | Room: 3rd Floor
Lisa Berlin, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Infant-Parent Attachment; Early Parenting; Prevention of Child Maltreatment; Home Visiting; Program Evaluation
Email: lberlin@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-6392 | Room: 3E29-D
Tony Bonadio, Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Improving effectiveness and efficiency of mental health treatment for children, adolescents, and families in community, school, and primary care settings through the applied use of empirical data; comparative effectiveness research; program evaluation; community psychology; assessment and psychometrics; multivariate statistics and mixture modeling techniques.
Email: fbonadio@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: 410-706-4882
Charlotte Bright, Associate Dean for Doctoral & Post-Doctoral Education
Research Interests: Gender and Juvenile Justice; Child Maltreatment; Interpersonal Trauma; Adolescent and Young Adult Development; Service Implementation; Quantitative and Qualitative Methodology
Email: cbright@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3605 | Room: 511 LAW/SSW
Caroline Long Burry, Associate Professor & Chair of the Families and Children Specialization
Research Interests: Adoption; Foster Care; Evidence-Informed Practices in Child Welfare; Parental Incarceration; Prenatal Substance Exposure
Email: cburry@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3509 | Room: 5E39
John Cagle, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Hospice and Palliative Care; Psychosocial Aspects of Pain and Pain Management; Caregiving at the End of Life; The Intersection of Aging, Health and Palliative Care; End-of-Life Care in Long Term Care Settings; The Economic Impact of End-of-Life Care on Families
Email: jcagle@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-6106 | Room: 3W13
Christine Callahan, Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Financial Social Work
Email: ccallahan@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7051 | Room: 3W23
Franklin Chappell, Clinical Assistant Professor and Coordinator of Field Education
Research Interests: Social Work Field Education, Health Issues, Loss and Grief
Email: fchappell@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3600 | Room: 5E30
Denise Chop, Clinical Instructor and Coordinator for Field Education
Research Interests: Field Education, Children and Families and Child Welfare
Email: dchop@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-4552 | Room: 5E31
Kathryn S. Collins, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Violence Exposure and Trauma Symptomatology; Mental Health and Disability Policies; Cognitive/Narrative Evidence Based Interventions in Social Work Education, Research and Practice; Feminist Pedagogy
Email: kcollins@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-0814 | Room: 3E29G
Sarah Dababnah, Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Services and Support for Individuals with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities; Child and Adolescent Mental Health; Sceening of Autism Spectrum Disorders; Early Intervention Services for Young; Children with or At Risk for Developmental Disabilities; Health-Related Issues of Adults with Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities and their Caregivers; Evidence-based Practices; Disability and Mental Health Policy; Cross-Cultural Comparisons; Global Disability Issues; Quantitative and Qualitative Research Methods
Email: sdababnah@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-8076 | Room: 5E39
Joan Davitt, Associate Professor and Chair of Aging Specialization
Research Interests: Aging; Home Care; Racial/Ethnic Disparities in Home Health Care
Email: jdavitt@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-5116 | Room: 3W11
Bruce R. DeForge, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Medical Sociology – Social Psychological Aspects of Health, Health Attitudes/Beliefs, Health Status, Quality of Life, Social/Psychological Well-Being, Health Disparities; Health Literacy; Sociology of Mental Health (stigma); Social Psychology (attitudes and public opinion, self-concept); Homelessness; Mental Health Policy
Email: bdeforge@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-5612 | Room: 3E13
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Frederick A. DiBlasio, Professor
Research Interests: Clinical Use of Forgiveness; Clinical Practice Issues
Email: fdiblasio@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7799 | Room: 5E43
Nancy S. Dickinson, Clinical Professor
Research Interests: Leadership in Child Welfare; Child Welfare Research; Child Welfare Education and Training
Email:ndickinson@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone:(410) 706-3740 | Room:546 LAW/SSW
Melissa Edmondson Smith, Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Severe Mental Illness; African Americans with Schizophrenia; Ethnic Minorities with Schizophrenia; Mental Health Treatment Outcomes; Mental Health Services Research
Email: medmondson@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-5107 | Room: 3W15
Jill Farrell, Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Juvenile Justice; Implementation of Evidence-Based Practices; Racial Disparities in the Juvenile Justice System; Program Evaluation; Using Data to Inform Policy; Workforce Development
Email: jfarrell@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-6693 | Room: 306 W.Redwood
Gisele Ferretto, Clinical Instructor
Email: gferretto@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-6934 | Room: 2E21
Nadine Finigan-Carr, Research Associate Professor and Assistant Director of the RYC
Research Interests: Public Health Social Work; Adolescent Risk Behaviors– sexual reproductive health, aggression and violence, substance use; ChildWelfare; Child Sex Trafficking; Parent Engagement
Email:nfinigan-carr@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone:(410) 706-7157 | Room:SSW/LAW 517
Pamela Clarkson Freeman, Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Program Evaluation and Quantitative Methods; Applied Statistics; Intervention Research with At-risk Youth and Families; Social Work Practice with Children; Trauma Focused CBT, Child Parent Psychotherapy, and Wrap-Around Services for Children Who Have Experienced Trauma
Email:pfreeman@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone:(410)-706-6349| Room:SSW/Law 509
Jodi Jacobson Frey, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Employee Assistance Programs (EAPs); Health and Productivity Management; Financial Capability and Economic Well-Being; Suicide Prevention and Crisis Intervention
Email: jfrey@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3607 | Room: 3W08
Deborah Gioia, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Schizophrenia and Vocational Identity; Evidence-Based Practice Adoption by Mental Health Practitioners; Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood; Veteran’s Mental Health; First Episode Psychosis
Email: dgioia@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7765 | Room: 3W16
Elizabeth Greeno, Research Associate Professor
Research Interests: Child Welfare; Trauma; Child Abuse & Neglect; Child Welfare; WorkforceMental Health
Email: egreeno@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-4259 | Room: 306 W.Redwood
Research Interests: Family Therapy; Group Work; Child Abduction; Single Parents; Friendships
Email: ggreif@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3567 | Room: 3W01
Angela K. Henneberger, Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Positive Youth Development; Peer Relationships; At-Risk Youth; Academic Development; Social Development; Causal Inference; Advanced Statistical Methods
Email: ahenneberger@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-6341 | Room: LAW/SSW COO6-B
Research Interests: Social Work Teaching and Training Methods, Child Maltreatment Prevention, Substance Use, Mental and Behavioral Health Treatment, Motivational Interviewing, and Child Welfare, Adoption, and At-Risk Youth Populations.
Karen Hopkins, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Organizational Learning, Capacity-building, and Development; Management Practices that Enhance Worker Well-Being and Performance; Workforce Development, Performance Management; Program Evaluation
Email: khopkins@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-1496 | Room: 3E29-C
Angela Jachelski, Clinical Instructor and Coordinator for Macro Field Education
Research Interests: Social Work Field Education, Evidenced Based Mental Health services for youth engaged in the Child Welfare system
Email:ajachelski@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3363 | Room: 5E34
Brook Kearley, Research Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Criminal and Juvenile Justice Policy; Experimental Methods; Program evaluation with a focus on substance use and delinquency prevention and intervention programs.
Email: Brook.Kearley@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410)706-2382 | Room: 306 W. Redwood Street
Amanda Lehning, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Aging in place, Neighborhoods and Health, Health Inequities in Later Life, Long-Term Services and Supports, Health Policy, Housing and Transportation
Email: alehning@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3831 | Room: 3W04
Ericka Lewis, Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Child Neglect, Parent Training, Mental Health Services, Prevention Research, Implementation of Evidence-Based Interventions
Email: Ericka.Lewis@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-0341 | Room: 3W05
Bethany R. Lee, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Child Welfare;Children's Mental Health;Quality of Care;Out-of-home Care;Residential Treatment;Treatment Foster Care; Quantitative Methodology
Email: blee@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3809 | Room: 5E20
Kyla Liggett-Creel, Assistant Clinical Professor
Research Interests: Early Childhood; Trauma; Cultural Competence; Place-based Initiatives; Program Evaluation; Families in Urban Environments
Email: kliggett-creel@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: 410-706-1099 | Room: 2W04
Samuel B. Little, Associate Dean for Field Education
Research Interests: Child Neglect, Parent Training, Mental Health Services, Prevention Research, Implementation of Evidence-Based Interventions
Email: sblittle@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-4545 | Room: 5E38
Laura Loessner, Assistant Director for Field Education
Research Interests: Community-based Non-Profit, Trauma, Clinical Supervision, K-12 Special Education, Charter Schools, Medicaid
Email: lloessner@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-6352 | Room: 5E36
Megan Meyer, Associate Dean for Academic Affairs & Associate Professor
Research Interests: Community Organizing and Advocacy; Community-University PartnershipsHuman Service Organizations; Qualitative Research; Social Capital Development; Social Movements
Email: mmeyer@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-5635 | Room: 5E06
Research Interests: Dr. Munson's practice and research focuses on trauma and loss in children including international child abduction. Dr. Munson has a special research interest in the effects of trauma on child development including a focus on receptive and language impairments. Dr. Munson has performed research and has publications in several areas of clinical social work practice and supervision.
Email: cmunson@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3602 | Room: 5E15
Nalini Negi, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Migration; Substance Abuse; Mental Health of Latino Immigrants; Ethnic/Racial Identity; Culturally Competent Social Work Practice
Email: nnegi@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3024 | Room: 5E08
Edward Pecukonis, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy; Indentifying the Long-Term Sequela of Child Abuse and Family Violence on Adults; Health Status and Psychological Well-Being; Psycho-analytically Oriented Individual Psychotherapy
Email: epecukonis@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7533 | Room: 5E41
Joan Pittman, Clinical Associate Professor and Director of the MSW Program at Shady Grove
Research Interests: Mental Health; Clinical Practice with Individuals, Couples, and Families; Group Work; Social Work Education; Supervision
Email: jpittman@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (301) 738-6013 | Room: USG III-3145, Camille Kendall Academic Center (Building II)
Dr. Michael Reisch, Daniel Thursz Distinguished Professor of Social Justice
Research Interests: Social Justice; Poverty and Inequality; Social Welfare Policy; Policy Advocacy; International Social Welfare
Email: mreisch@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-5088 | Room: 3W02
Shoshana Ringel, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Trauma; Attachment theory and practice; Psychodynamic treatment; Mindfulness based treatment
Email: sringel@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7890 | Room: 3W18
Theda Rose, Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Research Interests: Adolescent Mental Health Promotion; Measurement of Adolescent Mental Wellbeing; School and Community-based Adolescent Mental Health Promotion Interventions; Positive Youth Development; Program Evaluation; Public Health Social Work
Email: trose@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-4127 | Room: 3W07
Paul Sacco, Associate Dean for Research and Associate Professor
Research Interests: Alcohol and Drug Use; Pathological and Problem Gambling; Aging and Life Course Development; Latent Variable Methodology
Email: psacco@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-8099 | Room: 5E21
Adam Schneider, Clinical Instructor
Research Interests: Homelessness, Public Policy, Public Health
Email: aschneider@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-6391 | Room: 3W25
Wendy Shaia, Clinical Assistant Professor and Executive Director of SWCOS
Research Interests: Race and equity; Poverty and social justice; Black and African-American children with autism; Single parenting children of color; Organizational development.
Email: wshaia@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: 410-706-5130 | Room: SWCOS
Terry V. Shaw, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Child Welfare; Advanced Statistical Methods with Administrative Data; Environmental Issues Into Social Work Policy & Practice; Child Welfare Outcomes and Accountability; Adoption and Other Avenues to Permanency; Using Data to Inform Policy
Email: tshaw@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3811 | Room: SSW/LAW 559
Corey Shdaimah, Professor & Academic coordinator for the MSW/JD Dual Degree Program
Research Interests: Street-based Sex Work; Court-Affiliated Prostitution Diversion Programs; Child Care Policy; Theory and practice knowledge
Email: cshdaimah@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7544 | Room: 3W17
Peter Smith, Clinical Instructor
Research Interests: Theory Development, Emotional Systems Theory, Object Relations Theory, Clinical Practice, Human Behavior Theories, and the Interface of Religion and Mental Health.
Email: psmith@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-5120 | Room: 2E15
Sheila Y. Snowden, Clinical Instructor and Coordinator for Field Education
Research Interests: Field Education; Correctional Mental Health and Substance Abuse Programs; Mental Health; Substance Abuse
Email: ssnowden@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3899 | Room: 5E37
Victoria D. Stubbs, Clinical Instructor
Research Interests: Domestic Violence; Trauma; Clinical Supervision
Email: vstubbs@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-8303 | Room: 3E21
Michelle Tuten, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Behavioral Health, Substance Abuse
Email: mtuten@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7519 | Room: 5E28
Jay Unick, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Social and Psychiatric Epidemiology; Psychiatric Diagnosis; Health Consequences of Heroin Use; Organization and Financing of Mental Health Services; Mental Health Outcome Measurement
Email: junick@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-3735 | Room: 5E22
Research Interests: Development of methods, knowledge, and community-based participatory interventions promoting wellness and public mental health.
Email: fernando.wagner@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-5696 | Room: 5E10
Susan Westgate, Clinical Instructor
Research Interests: Trauma-informed Care, Vicarious Trauma, Healthcare Bio-Ethics, Chronic and Life-Threatening Illness, Behavioral Health, Palliative and End of Life Care, Health Disparities & Health Equity, Social Determinants of Health, Healthcare Applications of Big Data, Critical Incident Management Working with LGBTQIA+ individuals and communities , Training and Continuing Education
Email: swestgate@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-1390 | Room: 3W26
Alexandra Wimberly, Assistant Professor
Research Interests: Complementary health approaches for stress coping and substance use problems, including yoga and mindfulness meditation; Stress and substance use; Substance use and HIV interventions for people with criminal justice involvement; Continuing care for substance use
Email: awimberly@ssw.umaryland.edu | Room: 5E26
Michael Woolley, Associate Professor
Research Interests: Social Environment Influences on Educational Outcomes of Vulnerable Student Populations, Social Work Practice with Children, Youth and Families
Email: mwoolley@ssw.umaryland.edu | Phone: (410) 706-7839 | Room: 3W14