The Department of Psychiatry nominated and the Regents have approved Maureen Walton, PhD, MPH as the inaugural Toby Brzoznowski Research Professor effective March 1, 2024. Dr. Walton is Professor and the Associate Chair for Research and Research Faculty Development in the Department of Psychiatry. She also is the Senior Associate Director of the Injury Prevention Center (IPC), and Associate Director for Child Research at the Addiction Center. Dr. Walton conducts innovative research to maximize public health impact on the prevention and treatment of substance use, interpersonal violence, and injury. She has expertise in harnessing technology (e.g., web, text messaging, social media, telehealth, and smartphone apps) for assessment and intervention delivery. Dr. Walton and colleagues have developed evidenced-based, single session behavioral interventions to reduce risky substance use (e.g., alcohol, cannabis, prescription drug misuse) among patients in medical settings. With her teams, she is also testing remotely delivered interventions (i.e., telehealth session, messaging platform) to prevent opioid misuse among young people in the emergency department.
The Toby Brzoznowski Research Professorship in Behavioral Health Technology Innovations honors Toby Brzoznowski, an entrepreneur and visionary for mental health technology innovations. This professorship will support a faculty member whose research focuses on behavioral health technology innovations.