Scientific Leadership Team
Michael Fendrich, Ph.D.
CABHR director and Wisconsin Distinguished professor, HBSSW
Phone: (414) 229-6749
fendrich@uwm.edu
Dr. Fendrich is director of the Center for Applied Behavioral Health Research (CABHR) and a Wisconsin Distinguished professor of social work in the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. His research focuses on the epidemiology of substance abuse, with particular attention to issues related to the measurement and assessment of risk factors, as well as the correlates and consequences of substance abuse in the community. Read more >
Laura Otto-Salaj, Ph.D.
CABHR associate director and associate professor, HBSSW
Phone: (414) 229-3271
lottosal@uwm.edu
Dr. Otto-Salaj joined the CABHR Administrative Leadership Team in 2003. She has been the principal investigator of several National Institutes of Health-funded studies on HIV behavioral risk, including ARRIVE (National Institute on Mental Illness; NIMH), which examined the efficacy of an HIV risk reduction intervention for adults with serious persistent mental illness and coexisting substance use issues, and HEART to HEART (National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism; NIAAA), which examined the efficacy of an HIV-risk reduction intervention combined with alcohol treatment, for women with alcohol use disorders. She is currently Principal Investigator of Stories to Tell. Read more >
Lisa Berger, Ph.D.
CABHR scientist and associate professor, HBSSW
Phone: (414) 229-5620
lberger@uwm.edu
Dr. Berger joined the faculty of the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee in August 2005. Before that, she spent more than seven years on the staff of CABHR, as both an associate researcher and research program manager. She completed her bachelor’s degree at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a master of social work and a doctorate in urban studies at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Read more >
Young Cho, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, CABHR Scientist and associate professor,
Zilber School of Public Health and Helen Bader School of Social Welfare
Phone: (414) 229-5892
cho3@uwm.edu
Dr. Cho is Associate Professor of Community and Behavioral Health Promotion in the Zilber School of Public Health, and a CABHR scientist. His current research interests include assessment of substance abuse risk factors among minority populations, and evaluation of effective substance abuse intervention and treatment programs. He is particularly interested in studying contextual effects of neighborhoods on substance abuse and the effectiveness of substance abuse treatment. Read more >
Jennifer Doering, Ph.D., RN
Assistant professor of nursing
Phone: (414) 229-5716
doering@uwm.edu
Dr. Doering studies how sleep deprivation affects depression in urban women after childbirth. She has also conducted qualitative and quantitative studies on fatigue and depression symptoms in lower-income urban women, and she led an interdisciplinary effort to study maternal mental health in mothers who have young children with special needs. This included the development and implementation of a community-based depression-screening program within an early intervention program. Read more >
Paul Florsheim, Ph.D.
CABHR scientist; associate professor, Zilber School of Public Health;
research scientist, Center for Urban Population Health
Phone: (414) 229-2490
paulf@uwm.edu
Dr. Florsheim's primary interests are adolescent mental health and the development of prevention and treatment programs for high-risk youth. At UW-Milwaukee, he holds a joint appointment with the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare/CABHR and the School of Public Health where he is chair of the executive committee. He is also a scientist at CABHR and the Center for Urban Population Health. Read more >
Daniel Fuhrmann, Ph.D.
CABHR statistician
Phone: (414) 229-5176
fuhrmann@uwm.edu
Dr. Fuhrmann serves as a Statistician in the Center for Applied Behavioral Health Research. As a Statistician he is responsible for assisting with data management, statistical analysis, grant and report writing, and publication and presentation preparation. He also provides consultation to scientists on methodology, statistics, software and technology that pertain to their research activities. Read more >
Jonathan Kanter, Ph.D.
CABHR scientist and associate professor, psychology
Phone: (414) 229-3834
jkanter@uwm.edu
Dr. Kanter is associate professor in the department of psychology, director of the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Depression Treatment Specialty Clinic, coordinator of the UW-Milwaukee Psychology Clinic, and a scientist with CABHR. He is broadly interested in the psychopathology and treatment of depression, with a focus on behavioral or behavior-analytic models. Read more >
Thomas P. LeBel, Ph.D.
CABHR scientist and associate professor of criminal justice, HBSSW
Phone: (414) 229-2356
lebel@uwm.edu
Dr. LeBel is the author or co-author of numerous articles and book chapters on prisoner reentry, desistance from crime, stigma, and drug treatment. In particular, his research incorporates a “strengths-based” perspective in regard to incarcerated and formerly incarcerated people. He has also served as a consultant and panelist for several prisoner re-entry-related projects. His teaching includes undergraduate courses in corrections and introduction to criminal justice, as well as graduate courses in corrections. Read more >
Susan Rose, Ph.D.
CABHR scientist and associate professor, HBSSW
Phone: (414) 229-6301
sjrose@uwm.edu
Dr. Rose joined the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee faculty and CABHR in 1992. Her teaching responsibilities include the areas of mental health and advanced practice. In collaboration with Steven L. McMurtry, Ph.D., she also directs the Child Welfare Training Program. Dr. Rose earned her doctorate from the University of Illinois-Chicago. Read more >
Virginia Stoffel, Ph.D.
CABHR scientist and associate professor, College of Health Sciences
Phone: (414) 229-5583
stoffelv@uwm.edu
Dr. Stoffel is a CABHR scientist and an associate professor in the department of occupational therapy at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee College of Health Sciences. She earned a bachelor’s degree in occupational therapy from the College of St. Catherine, a master’s degree in educational psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, and a doctorate in leadership for the advancement of learning and service from Cardinal Stritch University. Read more >