Research Scientists

Research scientists at Lighthouse Institute have backgrounds and expertise in Addictions, Business, Education, Management Information Systems, Psychology, Public Health, Rehabilitation, Research Methods, Statistics, and Social Work.

Michael L. Dennis Ph.D. (Northwestern University, 1988)
Specialty areas: Methodology, program evaluation, measurement, randomized field experiments, drug abuse treatment, adolescent treatment, Global Appraisal of Individual Needs (GAIN), technology transfer, and information dissemination.

Mark D. Godley Ph.D. (Southern Illinois University, 1984)
Specialty areas: Research administration, health services and continuing care research in the management of substance use disorders, transfer of evidence-based treatments to community treatment settings.

Susan H. Godley Rh.D. (Southern Illinois University, 1982), Emeritus 
Specialty areas: Adolescent treatment, continuing care, development, and implementation of evidence-based treatments.

Christina E. Grella Ph.D. (University of California, Santa Cruz, 1985)
Specialty areas: Organization, delivery, and outcomes of treatment for individuals with substance use disorders, with a focus on those who have co-occurring mental disorders, youth, and women, including those in the criminal justice and child welfare systems.

Lilia Hristova Ph.D. (Institute of Hygiene, Medical Academy, Sofia, Bulgaria, 1979)
Specialty areas: SAS programming, data analysis, database management, public health, epidemiology.

Christy K. Scott Ph.D. (University of Illinois, 1992)
Specialty areas: Outcome monitoring, personality measurement, and cognitive psychology, marriage and close relationships, educational research, child welfare, and program development and management.

David A. Sharar Ph.D. (University of Illinois, 2008)
Specialty areas: Mental health and substance abuse in the workplace, evaluation of employee assistance programs (EAPs) and managed behavioral health services, design and delivery of international EAP.

Dennis P. Watson, Ph.D. (Loyola University Chicago, 2011) Specialty areas: Qualitative and mixed methods, implementation science, co-occurring substance use disorder and serious mental illness, homelessness, recovery supports, harm reduction-oriented services.

William L. White M.A. (Goddard College, 1977), Emeritus
Specialty areas: Addiction studies, recovery support, history of treatment and recovery, training and consultation, ethical issues in treatment.