RIISE Faculty and Staff

RIISE Leadership & Staff 

		Aaron Lyon, Ph.D. (RIISE Director) is a Professor in the University of Washington (UW) Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Co-Director of the UW SMART Center – an implementation research center dually located in the UW College of Education and School of Medicine and which houses RIISE. Dr. Lyon’s research focuses primarily on the implementation of high-quality, multi-tiered programming to enhance students’ social, emotional, and behavioral wellbeing. He is principal investigator on federally sponsored research projects (primarily the Institute of Education Sciences and the National Institute of Mental Health) developing and testing measurement instruments for implementation constructs (e.g., strategic implementation climate) and implementation strategies to promote the adoption, high-quality use, and sustainment of evidence-based practices. Website and Contact Information
		Jodie Buntain-Ricklefs, M.S.W./M.P.H., is the Assistant Director of Implementation and Evaluation and the RIISE Program Manager at the UW SMART Center. Her professional interests are in the effective and sustainable implementation of tiered evidence-based interventions to improve youth mental health and reduce stigma. She is passionate about prevention and early intervention programming, providing culturally responsive interventions, and effectively scaling up educational systems to meet the changing, diverse needs of our youth. She is also interested in the evaluation of these interventions and learning more about the contexts and systems in which we can best serve youth and improve mental health outcomes.
		Vaughan Collins, M.S.W., is a Research Coordinator at the UW SMART Center who co-manages RIISE. They also support the HELM project of RIISE Director Aaron Lyon and core faculty member Clayton Cook to adapt and test an existing leadership-focused implementation strategy to support the adoption and delivery of universal social, emotional, and behavioral programs in elementary schools. Vaughan’s interest in addressing implementation issues developed from their experiences at a Chicago affordable housing non-profit that contracted with HUD and analyzing state-level policies at the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights. While they are new to implementation science, Vaughan brings a social work lens to the UW SMART Center’s research where they seek to enhance the cultural responsiveness and intersectional approaches of social, emotional, and behavioral programming.
		Yasmin Landa (she/her) is a recent graduate from the University of Washington, where she earned a B.A. in Psychology and Sociology. As an undergraduate, Yasmin conducted an independent research project exploring the effects of in-patient psychiatric socio-physical experiences on treatment engagement posthospitalization. This research coupled with her work experience at Newport Academy, an adolescent treatment center, sparked an interest in mental health intervention with a focus on youth. She now assists in projects such as VIBRANT & BASIS that focus on mental health research and interventions in school systems. During her free time, Yasmin enjoys de-stressing with a good book, painting, gaming, and spending time with her dog and loved ones.

RIISE Core Faculty

Core Faculty attend and lead the June 2023 Institute.

		Catherine Bradshaw, Ph.D., M.Ed., is a University Professor and Senior Associate Dean for Research at the University of Virginia School of Education and Human Development. She holds a secondary faculty position at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health in the Department of Mental Health. She is an expert in school coaching models and the implementation of prevention programming in schools, with a particular focus on social and emotional learning, positive behavior support, and tiered prevention models. She has served as principal investigator on a wide range of Institute of Education Sciences grants to implement and evaluate evidence-based program and is editor of the journal Prevention Science. She has extensive experience training and mentoring junior faculty, including in her role as Dean for Research and as core faculty for the NIMH-funded Child Intervention, Prevention, and Services (CHIPS) training consortium. Website and Contact Information
		Daniel Almirall, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor at the University of Michigan. He is a statistician, methodologist, and implementation researcher who focuses on developing new methods, such as those used to form adaptive interventions across service contexts. In addition to RIISE, Dr. Almirall leads an Institute of Education Sciences-funded training program to provide training in adaptive intervention designs in education. Website and Contact Information
		Eric J. Bruns, Ph.D., is Professor of Psychiatry at UW and Associate Director of the UW SMART Center where he leads SMART’s Training and Technical Assistance Core and co-leads the SAMHSA-funded Northwest Regional School Mental Health Technology Transfer Center. Dr. Bruns’ research focuses on how to inform improvement in public child-serving systems for youth with behavioral health needs and their families, so that all youth and their families can succeed in home, school, and community, and achieve their hopes and dreams. He has served as principal investigator on an array of federal research grants, including multiple Institute of Education Sciences-funded projects devoted to identifying, testing, and implementing “core components” of social, emotional, and behavioral interventions in schools. He is also known for his research on intensive care coordination for youth with complex needs and co-leads the National Wraparound Implementation Center (NWIC). Website and Contact Information
		Erin Chaparro, Ph.D., M.S., is a Research Associate Professor at the University of Oregon’s Educational and Community Supports Research Center. Dr. Chaparro has consulted with state departments of education and school districts across the country on the topics of explicit instruction, Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports (PBIS), implementation science, and the education of English learners. She is a technical assistance provider for the Office of Special Education Programs’ (OSEP) Center on PBIS. In the area of multi-tiered system of supports (MTSS) implementation her work has focused on the role of systems level coaches and professional development as drivers of implementation efforts. In addition to RIISE, Dr. Chaparro has been PI or Co-PI on three Institute of Education Sciences grants and has served as a key personnel on two multi-state randomized controlled trials. Those projects have focused on data-teaming, online professional development for teachers, and effective instruction for English learners. She recently co-authored the textbook “Assessment for Special and Inclusive Education” with Drs. Jim Ysseldyke and Amanda VanDerHeyden. Website and Contact Information
		Lisa Sanetti, Ph.D., is a Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut. She is an expert in intervention fidelity in schools as well as adult behavior change theories and has received funding from sponsors such as the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to develop implementation strategies. She also serves as a mentor to early career scholars via IES training grants focused on increasing the translation of evidence-based practices for youth with disabilities and implementation research methods. Website and Contact Information
		Maury Nation, Ph.D., is the Robert Innes Professor of Human and Organizational Development in the Peabody College of Education at Vanderbilt University. He is an expert in the prevention of violence and bullying among school-aged children, understanding community and neighborhood qualities/characteristics that promote positive health and mental health outcomes, as well as equity for students of color and restorative discipline practices. Dr. Nation has been principal investigator on numerous grants from sponsors such as the Centers for Disease Control, the National Institute of Justice and the Health Resources and Services Administration. Website and Contact Information
		Nicole Patton-Terry, Ph.D., is the Olive & Manuel Bordas Professor of Education in the School of Teacher Education, Director of the Florida Center for Reading Research (FCRR), and Director of the Regional Education Lab Southeast (REL Southeast) at Florida State University. Dr. Patton Terry’s research, innovation, and engagement activities concern young learners who are vulnerable to experiencing difficulty with language and literacy achievement in school, in particular, Black children, children growing up in poverty, and children with disabilities. Her research and scholarly activities have been supported by various organizations, including the Institute of Education Sciences, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Spencer Foundation, and William T. Grant Foundation. She currently serves as the president elect for the Society for the Scientific Study of Reading, fellow of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association, and member of the National Academies’ Committee on the Future of Education Research at the Institute of Education Sciences in the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to earning her doctorate, she was a special education teacher in Evanston Public Schools in Evanston, IL. Website and Contact Information