Maxine L. Stitzer

Dr. Stitzer is a founding faculty member of the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, a nationally recognized extramural substance abuse research laboratory within the Department of Psychiatry at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. Her research interests have focused on both pharmacological and behavioral approaches to the treatment of substance use disorders including opioid, stimulant and tobacco use disorders. She is perhaps best known for her pioneering and continuing work on Contingency Management in substance abuse treatment, an approach designed to enhance motivation for positive behavior change. She has continuously sustained a productive grant-supported research program, published over 280 scientific papers, co-edited a book on methadone treatment, served on the AHRQ Smoking Cessation Clinical Guidelines panel and been the recipient of numerous awards for outstanding contributions to research on substance use disorders. She currently heads the Mid Atlantic Node of the National Institute on Drug Abuse Clinical Trials Network (CTN), a project that conducts multi-site clinical trials testing the effectiveness of substance abuse treatments implemented in either specialty or medical care settings. Her interests continue to be focused on advancing the understanding of substance use disorders broadly and promoting adoption of evidence-based treatments into clinical practice.