PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Andrew Busch is the Co-Director of the Behavioral Health Equity Research Group. He holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. He completed his clinical internship and post-doctoral fellowship at Brown University. Dr. Busch is a Senior Psychologist in the Hennepin Healthcare Department of Medicine, Division of Clinical Pharmacology and leads the Hennepin Healthcare Tobacco Dependence Clinic. He is also a Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Busch’s current work includes 1) efforts to understanding physical health disparities among those with mental illness, 2) developing interventions that target improvement in both mental and physical health, and 3) developing counseling interventions to improve physical health among our most underserved communities (e.g., individuals who are homeless, incarcerated, or recent immigrants). Dr. Busch is an expert in Behavioral Activation-based counseling and applies this treatment in many of his ongoing studies.

PRINICIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Sandra Japuntich is the Co-Director of the Behavioral Health Equity Research Group and the Director of Training and Mentoring at HHRI. She holds a PhD in clinical psychology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. She completed her clinical internship at Brown University and her postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Japuntich is a Senior Psychologist in the Hennepin Healthcare Department of Psychiatry. She is also an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Minnesota Medical School. Dr. Japuntich’s current work focuses on increasing access to smoking cessation treatment in healthcare settings (including mental health clinics, dental clinics, OBGYN, primary care, and inpatient hospital floors). She is particularly interested in promoting health equity through identifying and treating tobacco use among vulnerable populations. Her work leverages implementation science and randomized clinical trial methods to test behavioral interventions. She is particularly optimistic about proactive approaches to addressing tobacco use amongst all comers, not just in those motivated to quit. Clinically, Dr. Japuntich treats mood and anxiety disorders broadly and has specific expertise in trauma-related disorders, attention deficit disorder, and tobacco cessation.