Where Are They Now? - Dr. Melissa Schick

Where do you work and in what capacity? 

I am an Assistant Professor of Psychiatry in the Division of Prevention and Community Research at the Yale School of Medicine, and I direct the Study of Trauma, Addiction, and Recovery (STAR) Lab at Yale. My role is primarily research-based – I am the principal investigator on a NIDA-funded Career Development Award and on an Early Career Psychologist grant from Division 50. However, I also serve as a mentor and supervisor to trainees, including research staff and undergraduate research assistants in my lab. I co-lead a grant writing seminar through the Division of Prevention and Community Research’s NIDA-funded T32 focused on substance use prevention research and am the site coordinator for the predoctoral clinical psychology fellows at the Consultation Center (a collaboration between Yale and the Connecticut Mental Health Center).

What are your current research and clinical interests? 

Broadly, my research sits at the intersection of addiction, trauma, and health equity. I am particularly interested in understanding how positive emotional processes shape resilience and recovery for trauma-exposed individuals. This includes a focus on the presence of positive states (e.g., happiness), but also individuals’ capacity to sustain, savor, and respond adaptively to positive emotions. Further, in recognition of the fact that these processes operate within sociocultural contexts that shape inequities in risk, treatment access, and outcomes, my work includes a specific focus on cultural and contextual determinants of substance use inequities. This includes examining sociodemographic differences in substance use and related outcomes and evaluating culturally salient influences on risk and resilience, including racial discrimination and cultural identity affiliation. Finally, I study how research practices can perpetuate disparities by testing whether commonly used measures function equivalently across sociodemographic groups and by evaluating the representation of minoritized populations in clinical research.

How did you become interested in addictive behaviors? 

My first real exposure to addictive behaviors was working as a post-bac research assistant working with Dr. Bettina Hoeppner at Massachusetts General Hospital (a role I came to by a bit of luck because of a mutual connection). While working with Dr. Hoeppner, I became fascinated by substance use given its position as a really normative behavior while also being among the only criminalized mental health conditions. This professional interest became more personal when a close family member passed away from conditions related to alcohol use disorder early in my training. From there, I’ve been passionate about identifying ways to improve well-being for individuals who use substances.

What motivated you to serve as a prior student representative for the Society of Addiction Psychology (Division 50)? 

When I was working with Dr. Hoeppner, she really impressed upon me the value of networking and of service to one’s profession (I will talk up the life lessons she shared for days, given the opportunity). With her support, I attended the Collaborative Perspectives on Addiction mid-year conference for the first time during my first year of graduate school. At CPA that year, I struck up a conversation with Julie Cristello, who was a research coordinator at MGH at the same time as I was and who was really involved in the Technology & Communications Committee. I joined the Technology & Communications Committee and the social media team after that first CPA. Through that experience, I got to know more senior folks whose work I really respected. When Julie was a student representative a few years later and I got to hear about her experiences, it felt like a no brainer to apply to serve in the role the following year.

How has your involvement with Division 50 positively impacted your career?

I am eternally grateful for everything that my involvement with Division 50 has afforded me. I have been incredibly grateful for the professional and personal connections that I’ve made, and for the opportunities to grow as a professional. I learned about the grant review process through coordinating (and now reviewing for) the Student Research Grant and receiving the Early Career Psychology Grant has provided foundational data for independent grant applications I have begun to submit as an early-career faculty member.

What advice can you provide for current students who are interested in getting more involved in the field?

There can be value in being flexible about what involvement in the field looks like. We spend a lot of time thinking about getting involved in publications, grants, and presentations, which makes sense given that these are our most direct professional currency. At the same time, however, getting involved in service activities has opened incredibly valuable opportunities for networking. By joining the Technology & Communications Committee and posting on social media from APA and CPA meetings through the years, I’ve been pushed into situations where I am talking to incredibly cool people about incredibly cool science (even if the task itself doesn’t seem particularly field specific). These conversations and connections have opened doors for collaboration and have shaped the way I think about my work.