People
Find information about our current and former laboratory members, below, or click here to see information about joining our research team.
Principal Investigator
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Andrea C. King, Ph.D.
Ph.D. in Biological Psychology, University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center Professor Director of Clinical Addictions Research Laboratory Tel: 773-702-6181 Email: aking@bsd.uchicago.edu Dr. King is a tenured professor at U Chicago Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience and has been on faculty since 1997. She is also co-leader of Cancer Prevention and Control at the University of Chicago Comprehensive Cancer Center, director of the tobacco treatment program at the University of Chicago, and developer of the Courage to Quit® tobacco cessation program delivered by the Respiratory Health Association across the Chicagoland area. Dr. King is a licensed clinical psychologist and treats patients with tobacco, alcohol, and substance use disorders and other co-morbid mental health conditions. She is currently Principal Investigator of several grants from the NIH, including tobacco cessation in underserved smokers and cancer patients, examination of e-cigarette use as a smoking cue, neurobiological substrates of alcohol and aggression, and laboratory and longitudinal assessment of binge drinkers. She has served on numerous study section panels at the NIH and received several awards for her academic excellence at the University of Chicago. In her spare time, Dr. King provides educational lectures in schools to youth about cigarette smoking, vaping, and addiction. |
Current Laboratory Members
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Dan Fridberg, Ph.D.
Ph.D, Indiana University Bloomington Associate Professor; Co-investigator Tel: 773-834-3598 Email: dfridberg@bsd.uchicago.edu Dr. Daniel Fridberg has served on the faculty of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Neuroscience at the University of Chicago since 2014. He is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in the assessment and treatment of addictive behaviors and comorbid mental health conditions. Dr. Fridberg is also the co-director of the Tobacco Cessation Program at the University of Chicago where he helps patients quit smoking using the Courage to Quit® program. Dr. Fridberg has an active research program focused on how individuals differ in their responses to alcohol, and how those differences may contribute to risk for alcohol misuse and dependence. He is especially interested in using technology, such as smartphones and alcohol biosensors, to measure real-world alcohol use, responses, and related outcomes. Dr. Fridberg’s work has been funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, and he has presented his findings in multiple peer-reviewed papers and at invited talks and presentations around the country. |
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Emma Brett, Ph.D.
Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology, Oklahoma State University Staff Scientist Emma received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from Oklahoma State University and has completed her postdoctoral training in the Clinical Addictions Research Laboratory under the mentorship of Dr. Andrea King. She is interested in factors that influence engagement in substance use, such as cue reactivity, with a focus on nicotine/tobacco products. She has received a NIDA K99 training grant to develop an online vaping treatment intervention. |
Nathan Didier, MS
Research Analyst Nathan completed a B.A. from Wheaton College (IL) in 2019, where he studied psychology and chemistry. In 2021, he completed an M.S. in Biomedical Informatics from the University of Chicago. He enjoys visualizing data and building models to examine risk factors for alcohol and nicotine abuse. Two current projects are building software to analyze transdermal alcohol content and creating a web-based app for collecting substance use data. |
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Drew Fischer, MA
Project Coordinator Drew graduated from Amherst College in 2019 with a B.S. in Psychology and English and later received his M.A. in 2021 from the University of Chicago. He is interested in the relationship between contextual factors and addiction, as well as treatment interventions. |
Zoe Lee
Project Coordinator Zoe graduated from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign with a B.S. in Clinical Psychology. Her research interests include the etiology and treatment of addiction, as well as the effects of electronic cigarette use, particularly in adolescent populations. |
Sarah Farhan
Research Assistant Sarah (she/her) graduated from Rutgers University – New Brunswick with a B.A. in Psychology. Her research interests involve understanding the psychological impact of ethnopolitical/colonial violence on refugee and indigenous children and adolescents, with a secondary interest in substance use as a coping mechanism in all age demographics. |
Layne Robinson
Research Assistant Layne received her B.S. in Psychology with a minor in Neuroscience from the University of Kentucky in 2022. She is interested in genetic contributions to addiction and the efficacy of current treatment/prevention methods for addictive behaviors. |
Riya Thomas
Research Assistant Riya graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2022 with a B.S. in neuroscience and minor in Japanese. Her research interests include novel behavioral and pharmacological combination treatment interventions for addiction and other mental illnesses. |
Former Laboratory Members Since 2013
- Ashley Vena, Ph. D., Scientific Director, 2017-2022; Scientist for Emmes, LLC
- Abbey Feather, Project Coordinator, 2019-2022; PhD student at U of Kentucky
- Meghan Howe, Project Coordinator, 2017-2020; PhD student at Rosalind Franklin University
- Krista Miloslavich, Project Coordinator, 2017-2020; PhD student at University of Illinois at Chicago
- Patrick McNamara, Assistant Director of Clinical Addictions Research Laboratory, 2004-2019
- Patrick Smith, Research Assistant, 2014-2017, 2018-2020
- Eric Giger, Research Assistant, 2017-2020
- Aly Bathery, Research Assistant, 2019-2020
- Melissa Liu, Research Assistant, 2017-2019
- Jesus Chavarria, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Scholar, 2016-2019
- Faria James, Research Assistant, 2016-2018
- Lia Smith, Research Assistant, 2013-2016
