Katherine Elkington, PhD
Member, ISHO Core
Training Co-Director, HIV Center Postdoctoral Training Program: Behavioral Sciences Training in HIV Infection
Associate Professor of Clinical Medical Psychology (in Psychiatry), Columbia University Irving Medical Center
Email: ke2143@cumc.columbia.edu
Phone: (646) 774-6965
Katherine Elkington, PhD, is a licensed NYS clinical psychologist, an Associate Professor of Clinical Psychology (in Psychiatry) at Columbia University as well as Research Scientist and the Training Director of the T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship at the HIV Center. She is also a member of the HIV Center's Intervention Science Core.
Dr. Elkington’s research has centered on understanding and documenting the intersection among sexual risk behaviors, substance use and mental illness in highly vulnerable adolescent populations. Dr. Elkington has a particular focus on youth involved in the juvenile justice system, working with this population to examine how mental health problems, substance use and sexual risk behaviors, and risk factors thereof, are interrelated and influence recidivism. She has used these data to develop interventions that prevent youth on probation from engaging in risk behavior, promote health, and facilitate linkage to services. These interventions include a family-based HIV/STI prevention program for youth on probation (Family STARS) that was developed as part of her Career Development Award (K01 MH089832; PI: Elkington). She has also published on the relationship between MI-related stigma and HIV risk behaviors among adults with SMI in both US and Brazilian samples, and among adolescents in psychiatric outpatient treatment in the US.
She has been the Principal Investigator or Co-Investigator of a large number of federally-funded research projects based in the US. Most recently these projects include:
Link2CARE (R01DA043122; PI: Elkington), a grant to adapt and implement a new multicomponent service delivery model (Link2CARE) that aims to a) increase HIV, STI testing and SU screening; b) reduce HIV and SU risk; and c) increase linkage to HIV, STI and SU services for justice involved youth enrolled in alternative to sentencing programs.
Family CONNECT (R34 DA039316; PI: Elkington), a grant to adapt and pilot test a multi-level service linkage and delivery model for youth on probation, employing use of a linkage specialist to help families navigate between probation and behavioral health systems.
JJ-TRIALS (Translational Research on Interventions for Adolescents in the Legal System U01-DA036226; PI: Gail Wasserman, Ph.D), a multi-site grant to expand efforts to address substance use and HIV risk, and to promote evidenced-based programs for youth on probation
Boricua Youth Study: (R01 DA033173; PI: Duarte), a grant to examine the role of substance use and disorder, in addition to other key individual and contextual factors, on HIV/STI risk behaviors and infection among Latino youth in the South Bronx, NY and San Juan, Puerto Rico.
Predictors of Pathological Gambling Among Puerto Rican Youth (R01 HD060072; PI: Martins), using the Boricua Youth Study sample, this grant examines developmental pathways and environmental risk factors that may lead to pathological or problem gambling, and related outcomes such as sexual risk, in a high-risk sample of Puerto Rican youth/young adults in the South Bronx and Puerto Rico.
EDUCATION
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
BA - 1998 - Psychology & French
Northwestern University, Chicago, IL
PhD - 2006 - Clinical Psychology
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
2004-2005: Psychotherapy Intern Beth Israel Medical Center, Department of Psychiatry, New York, NY
2005-2006: Research Coordinator, Brazil HIV Prevention for the Severely Mentally (Milton L. Wainberg, M.D., Principal Investigator), HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY
2006-2008: Program Evaluator Adolescent Portable Therapy (Director, Evan Elkin) Vera Institute of Justice, New York, NY
2006-2009: Postdoctoral Research Fellow, (Chief Fellow 2007-2008), HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY
2008-Present: Program Evaluator/Training Faculty Columbia Mental Health Training Project, Columbia University and New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY
2009-Present: Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology in Psychiatry HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, Columbia University/New York State Psychiatric Institute, New York, NY
HONORS AND AWARDS
1994-1996: Class Honors, University of Michigan
1997-1998: University of Michigan Honors Psychology Program
2004: Recipient Walter Burke Award for Excellence in Clinical Practice, Northwestern University
2006: George Yacorzynski Award for Dissertation Excellence, Northwestern University
2007 - 2010: National Institutes of Mental Health, Loan Repayment Award
2008: Pizetsky Young Investigator Award, New York Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University
2010: HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies Publication Award
2011-2012: Office of Mental Health Policy Scholar Award
2009-2012: Co-Training Director, T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY
2013-Present: Training Director, T32 Postdoctoral Fellowship, HIV Center for Clinical and Behavioral Studies, New York State Psychiatric Institute and Columbia University, New York, NY
