Kristen Alston CV- Page 1
Curriculum Vitae
Kristen J. Alston, Ph.D.
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Department of Family Medicine
2500 N. State St.
Jackson, MS 39216
Phone: 252-532-0789
E-mail: [email protected]
EDUCATION
Doctor of Philosophy
Aug 2009- July 2015
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, Greenville NC
APA-Accredited Program in Clinical Psychology
Specialization in Health Psychology
Expected Graduation Date: August 2015
Dissertation Title: Treatment Adherence in Pediatric Sickle Cell
Disease: Examining Medication Adherence,
Appointment Keeping, and Self-Care Behaviors
Clinical Psychology
Internship
June 2014-June 2015
HENRY FORD HEALTH SCIENCES CENTER, Detroit, MI
Master of Arts
Aug 2009- Dec 2011
EAST CAROLINA UNIVERSITY, Greenville, NC
Clinical Psychology
Specialization in Health Psychology
Thesis Title: Perceived Emergency Department Care and Disease
Status in Pediatric Sickle Cell Patients
GPA: 3.95
Bachelor of Science
Aug 2005-May 2009
HOWARD UNIVERSITY, Washington, DC
Major in Psychology, Minor in Sociology
Phi Beta Kappa, Summa cum laude; GPA: 3.82
HONORS AND AWARDS
2013
The Miller-Moore Graduate Scholarship in Psychology Recipient
Nominated by the East Carolina University Clinical Psychology Faculty
for excellence in clinical practice and academics
Scholarship conferred: April, 2013
2013
UNC Campus Scholarship Recipient
Nominated by the East Carolina University Clinical Psychology Faculty
Kristen Alston CV- Page 2
2010
for academic excellence
Scholarship conferred: August, 2012 and August, 2013
Research Mentee, Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research
Summer Immersion Program in Health Disparities Research at
University of Michigan
2010
Rocky Mount Engine Plant Recreation Association Scholarship
recipient
Awarded for academic excellence
Scholarship conferred: July, 2010
2008
Research Mentee, Summer Pre-Graduate Research Experience at
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Funding Agency: National Institute of Health
2006-2009
Howard University Trustee Tuition Scholarship recipient
2006-2007
Research Mentee, Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate
Achievement Program at Howard University
CLINICAL TRAINING
8/2015-Present
Postdoctoral Fellow in Clinical Health Psychology
University of Mississippi Medical Center Department of Family
Medicine
Duties: Collaborate with residents, physicians, and other healthcare providers
as a part of an integrated care team to deliver direct consultative and
behavioral health clinical services to patients with acute/chronic health
concerns and comorbid behavioral concerns within a primary care setting. To
conduct behavioral assessments and provide brief problem-focused,
empirically-supported interventions. Provide behavioral health inpatient
consultation-liaison services to Family Medicine inpatient teams in the
community hospital. Contribute to resident education through development
and presentation of didactic lectures for the family medicine residents’ core
curriculum conferences and orientation sessions. Provide the family medicine
residents with individualized instruction, using direct and indirect interactive
learning techniques. Serve as a member of the program evaluation committee
and resident selections committee.
Population: Adult primary care patients with acute and chronic health
conditions.
6/2014-6/2015
Psychology Intern (APA Accredited)
Henry Ford Health Sciences Center
Rotation: Behavioral Cardiology
Duties: Assess psychosocial and cognitive risk factors for readmission to the
hospital and noncompliance to the medical regimen; provide brief bedside
intervention, cognitive assessment, psychodeduction; collaborate as a member
of an interdisciplinary care team to provide integrated comprehensive care to
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cardiac patients and their families; participate in collaborative rounds with
medical team
Population: Cardiac patients who are at risk for hospital readmission due to
co-morbid medical conditions, substance abuse, and cognitive impairments
Rotation: Acute Care Surgery/Surgical ICU
Duties: Psychological evaluation (including psychosocial history, cognitive
assessment, and substance abuse assessment) of patients who have
experienced medical trauma; provide bedside intervention and assessment to
promote psychological adjustment; Collaborate as a member of an
interdisciplinary team to provide comprehensive care to patients and families;
participate in collaborative rounds with medical team
Population: Patients who have experienced medical trauma and geriatric
patients within the Senior Falls Initiative.
Rotation: Emergency Medicine
Duties: Conduct bedside assessments of patients who present to the ED with
complaints of or experiencing overt symptoms of psychiatric distress; conduct
psychosocial and cognitive assessment to inform appropriate interventions
and disposition planning
Population: Emergency Department patients presenting with psychiatric
distress, frequent utilizers of the emergency department
8/2013-5/2014
Graduate Clinician, Supervisor: Samuel Sears, PhD
East Carolina Heart Institute at the Brody School of Medicine
Duties: Collaborate as a member of an interdisciplinary medical team to
provide integrated comprehensive care to cardiac arrhythmia patients and
their families
Populations: Patients of all ages
8/2012-5/2013
Graduate Clinician, Supervisor: Dennis Russo, PhD
Family Medicine Center at the Brody School of Medicine
Duties: Collaborate with physicians and other health care providers to provide
integrated primary care services addressing both mental health issues and
disease-related psychological care of patients.
Populations: Patients of all ages
8/2012-5/2013
Graduate Clinician, Supervisor: Jeannie Golden, PhD
ECU Partnership to Improve School-Based Mental Health Services:
Greene County School System and Nash County School System
Duties: To work as a team member with families, school staff, and students to
help build positive support systems for students and to address the mental
health needs of adolescents through individual and group counseling as well
as parent/teacher consultations regarding medical/health problems and
interventions.
Populations: Adolescent middle school students
8/2011-5/2012
Graduate Clinician, Supervisor: Steven Peters, PsyD
Cherry Hospital, Goldsboro, N.C.
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Duties: To conduct individual and group therapy tailored toward helping
patients manage and understand their illness; to conduct psychological and
cognitive assessments of adolescents and adults
Populations: Adolescents and Adults suffering from severe mental
illness
8/2010-12/2011
Graduate Clinician, Supervisors: Tony Cellucci, PhD;Lesley Lutes, PhD
East Carolina University Psychological Assessment and Services (PASS)
Clinic
Duties: To conduct cognitive-behaviorally oriented individual therapy; To
conduct psycho-educational evaluations, provide behavioral health services
for smoking cessation and weight management using a cognitive behaviorally
oriented approach.
Populations: Adults from the community and college students
RESEARCH EXPERIENCE
2013-2015
Principle Investigator, Supervisor: Cecelia Valrie, PhD
Responsibilities: To examine different aspects of treatment adherence
(medication adherence, appointment keeping, and self-care behaviors) among
pediatric sickle cell disease patients and to examine the relationship between
these aspects of adherence and factors that are related to these aspects of
adherence. I am responsible for study design, data collection, and data
analysis. This is an extension of our “Using E-Diaries to Assess Sleep and
Pain in Children with Sickle Cell Disease” grant. This project will serve as
my dissertation.
2009-2015
Research Assistant, Supervisor: Cecelia Valrie, PhD
Grant Title: Using E-Diaries to Assess Sleep and Pain in Children with Sickle
Cell Disease
Funding Source: National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute, NIH
The purpose of the grant is to examine the relationship between sleep and
pain among children and adolescents with Sickle Cell Disease. I am
responsible for participant recruitment, participant tracking, and training
graduate and undergraduate lab members in data entry and data management.
I also assist with database development, data entry, data analysis, and writing
up results for publication and presentation.
2009-2011
Research Assistant, Supervisor: Cecelia Valrie, PhD
Title: Care Card Project
Funding Source: Sickle Cell Disease Association of America
The purpose of this project is to examine satisfaction with emergency
department care among a pediatric sickle cell population. I was responsible
for assisting with study design, data management, data entry, and data
analysis. I was also responsible for co-writing outcome papers and copresenting study results. Data from this project was used for my thesis
project.
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May 2010-Aug 2010
Research Assistant, Supervisor: Arden Morris, MD
Title: Barriers to Colorectal Cancer Screening among African American Men
Funding Source: Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research
The purpose of this study was to examine barriers to colorectal cancer
screening for African American men. This research was conducted during my
participation in the Michigan Institute for Clinical and Health Research
Summer Immersion Program in Health Disparities Research at the University
of Michigan in Ann Arbor, MI. My main duties were to quantitatively
analyze transcribed data and conduct a systematic literature review.
May 2008-July 2008
Research Assistant, Supervisor: Barbara Germino, PhD
Title: Cognitive Reframing and Affective State in Younger Breast Cancer
Survivors at Entry into an Intervention Trial
Funding Source: the Summer Pre-Graduate Research Experience at
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
The purpose of this project was to examine the effects of cognitive reframing
upon affective state in younger breast cancer survivors. My duties included
helping to develop outreach strategies for participant recruitment. I also
assisted with data management, data entry, and data analysis. My
responsibilities also included co-writing an outcome paper and presenting a
poster presentation detailing the results of the study. This research was
conducted during my participation in the Summer Pre-Graduate Research
Experience at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in Chapel Hill, NC.
Jan 2008-May 2008
Student Researcher, Faculty Mentor: Joneis Thomas, PhD
Title: Risky Behavior and Anxiety
The purpose of this project was to explore the relationship between risky
behavior and death-related anxiety among college students. My
responsibilities included developing instruments to measure college students’
risky behaviors and death-related anxiety. I was responsible for data
collection, data management, data analysis and co-writing and presenting
outcome data.
Jan 2007-June 2007
Research Assistant, Faculty Mentor: Donna Barnes, PhD
Title: Exposure to Violence among African American Youth in Washington,
DC
Funding Source: Ronald E. McNair Postbaccalaureate Achievement Program
The purpose of the project was to examine exposure to violence among
African-American youth in Washington, DC. My responsibilities included
managing, entering, and analyzing data, as well as co-writing outcome papers
and presenting results at several conferences.
PUBLICATIONS
Alston, K.J., Valrie, C.R., Walcott, C.M., Warner, T.D., & Fuh, B. Experiences of pediatric patients
with sickle cell disease in rural emergency departments. Journal of Pediatric Hematology Oncology,
37(3), 195-199.
Kristen Alston CV- Page 6
PRESENTATIONS
Alston, K.J., Ladd, R.J., Exum, K.L., Trout, K.L., & Valrie, C.R. (2014). Examining adherence to
self-care behaviors among adolescents with sickle cell disease. Poster presented at the 2014 National
Conference on Pediatric Psychology in Philadelphia, PA.
Valrie, C.R., Exum, K.L., Trout, K.L., Alston, K.J., & Ladd, R.J. (2014). Insomnia symptoms in
youth with sickle cell disease. Poster presented at the 2014 National Conference on Pediatric
Psychology in Philadelphia, PA.
Valrie, C.R. , Carraway, M.E., Crawford, Y., Lutes, L., Dinatale, E., Exum, K.L., Alston, K.J., Ladd,
R.J., Trout, K.L., & Collier, D. (2014). The influence of insomnia symptoms and daytime sleepiness
on a camp-based intervention for obese adolescents. Poster presented at the 2014 National
Conference on Pediatric Psychology in Philadelphia, PA.
Golden, J., Alston, K.J., & Wilson, D. (2013). Culturally diverse youth: Underserved and
overwhelmed with mental health and illness-related problems. Oral presentation presented at the 18th
Annual Conference on Advancing School Mental Health in Arlington, VA.
Alston, K.J., Valrie, C.R., & Ladd, R.J. (2013). Factors related to compliance to an e-diary in youth
with sickle cell disease. Poster presented at the 2013 National Conference on Pediatric Psychology in
New Orleans, LA.
Golden, J., Sheaffer, B., Hazel, P., Harris, J., Alston, K.J., Whitehead, S., Butler, R.
(2013). A Community-University Partnership: Understanding, Preventing and Treating the Unique
Mental Health and Illness-Related Problems of Minority Youth. Oral presentation presented at the 9th
Annual Jean Mills Symposium in Greenville, NC.
Alston, K. J., Valrie, C. R., Warner T. D., Walcott, C. M., Fuh, B., Newsome, M. E., & Wright, M.
(2011). Satisfaction with emergency department care in a pediatric sickle cell cohort. Oral
presentation presented at the Sickle Cell Disease Association of America 39th Annual Conference in
Washington, DC.
Alston, K. J., Valrie, C. R., Warner T. D., Walcott, C. M., & Fuh, B. (2011). Satisfaction with
emergency department care in pediatric sickle cell patients. Poster presented at the American Society
of Pediatric Hemotology/Oncology's 24th Annual Meeting in Baltimore, MD.
Alston, K.J., Germino, B., Mishel, M., Lin, L., & Chang-Chien, L. (2008). Cognitive reframing
and affective state in younger breast cancer survivors at entry into an intervention trial.
Oral presentation presented at the Howard University 4th Annual Symposium on Undergraduate
Research, Washington, DC, April 2009, and the Howard University Graduate School Annual
Research and Honors Day, Washington, DC, April 2009.
Alston, K.J. (2007). Exposure to Violence Among African American Youths in Washington, DC.
Oral presentation presented at the 22nd National Conference on Undergraduate Research, Salisbury
University, Salisbury, MD, April 2008.
Kristen Alston CV- Page 7
INVITED TALKS
Alston, K.J., & Russo, D. (June, 2013). Behavioral medicine and evidence based care II:
Depression treatment in primary care. Presented at the Academic Afternoon Series at the Family
Medicine Center at the Brody School of Medicine, Greenville, NC.
Alston, K.J. (May, 2013). Adolescent diabetes management and depression in primary care.
Presented at the Integrated Case Conference Series at the Family Medicine Center at the Brody
School of Medicine, Greenville, NC.
CASE PRESENTATIONS
Alston, K.J. (June, 2015). Borderline! Feels like I’m going to lose my mind! Managing patient’s
with Borderline Personality Disorder in the Emergency Department. Presented at the Behavioral
Health Case Presentation Series at Henry Ford Hospital, Detroit, MI.
Alston, K.J. (February 2015). Fact or Faked? When 2+2 ≠4…Managing Factitious Disorder in
Medical Settings. Presented at the Behavioral Health Case Presentation Series at Henry Ford
Hospital, Detroit, MI.
Alston, K.J. (September, 2014). Alert and Oriented X 3…and then what? Cognitive Impairment and
Heart Failure. Presented at the Behavioral Health Case Presentation Series at Henry Ford Hospital,
Detroit, MI
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
2009-2010
Graduate Teaching Assistant, Psychology, East Carolina University
Course: Introduction to Psychology
Responsibilities: Delivering weekly didactic lectures and proctoring and grading
exams
LEADERSHIP ROLES
2013-2014
Co-Coordinator: Resources for Education, Advocacy, and Community for Clinical
Health (REACCH) organization at East Carolina University, Greenville, NC
PROFESSIONAL AFFILIATIONS
American Psychological Association
-Division 54 (Pediatric Psychology)
Phi Beta Kappa
The Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi
Ronald E. McNair Scholar
EMPLOYMENT HISTORY
Youth Counselor
July 2007-August 2007
SUMMER YOUTH EMPOWERMENT CAMP, Tillery, NC
Responsibilities: Teaching skill building to children and
adolescents from a rural community
Kristen Alston CV- Page 8
Teaching Assistant
June 2006-July 2006
GARYSBURG ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, Garysburg, NC
Responsibilities: To teach reading comprehension and math for
grade 5
Teaching Assistant
June 2005-July 2005
CONWAY MIDDLE SCHOOL, Conway, NC
Responsibilities: To teach reading comprehension and math for grade
5
Kristen Alston CV- Page 9
REFERENCES
Dr. Molly Clark
Assistant Professor and Fellowship Director
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Department of Family Medicine
2500 N. State St.
Jackson, MS 39216
Phone: (601) 815-2005
[email protected]
Dr. Cecelia Valrie
Associate Professor
Department of Psychology
East Carolina University
104 Rawl Building
Greenville, NC 27858
Office: (252) 328-1381
[email protected]
Dr. Dennis Russo
Clinical Professor of Family Medicine and Psychology
Department of Family Medicine
Brody School of Medicine
600 Moye Blvd.
East Carolina University
Greenville, NC 27858
Office: (252) 744-2810
[email protected]
Dr. Mark Ketterer
Senior Bioscientific Staff
Henry Ford Hospital/A2
2799 West Grand Boulevard
Detroit, MI 48202
(734) 642-8776
[email protected]