Jimeka Leonard Email: jimeka0102@gmail.com

Background Information

I graduated in May 2009 with a Bachelors of Science in Public and Community Health, from the School of Public Health at the University of Maryland, College Park. My current role as a full-time research assistant at CAPER allows me to work on multiple research projects. I serve as a project coordinator for a longitudinal treatment study, which determines the effectiveness of an anxiety sensitivity treatment among heroin users in a residential substance-use rehabilitation center. I am also working on a study which examines changes in cortisol reactivity due to distress tolerance tasks. In my last semester I served as a full time intern as a research assistant under Dr. Stacey Daughters, where I worked on ACT HEALTHY a treatment study targeting depressed substance users who were also diagnosed with HIV. I also was able to work on the ADT study which examines the relationship between risky behaviors and distress tolerance amongst adolescents. In the future I plan on pursing my MPH.

Research Interests

My current research interest is in the prevention and treatment of psychiatric disorders among substance abusers.