Dr. Witkiewitz received her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Washington and has been a faculty member in the Psychology Department at the University of New Mexico for 10 years. Dr. Witkiewitz’s research examines treatment of substance use disorder, with an emphasis on reducing human suffering and supporting recovery.  Dr. Witkiewitz is also a licensed clinical psychologist and has worked extensively on the development, evaluation, and implementation of mindfulness-based treatments for substance use disorder. Her research has been supported by multiple grants from the National Institutes of Health, totaling over $50 million in research funding since 2004. Most recently, she has co-led the UNM Substance Use Disorder Grand Challenge and along with her UNM colleagues just received over $10 million dollars in funding to support a new center at UNM devoted to treating opioid use disorder and chronic pain. She has authored 6 books and was recently appointed to the National Advisory Council on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism by the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services. Of greatest relevance to the UNM FIRST program, Dr. Witkiewitz also has extensive expertise with NIH grant funding in the areas of measurement, evaluation, and data analysis, and multiple projects that are multi-site and involve coordination with NIH coordinating centers. Her research has also focused on measure development and the development of commensurate measures across sites and studies. Dr. Witkiewitz is also the quantitative area head in the Psychology Department and she has conducted measurement work in the areas of neuroscience and cognitive aging. She also has extensive experience in training female and underrepresented minority faculty. Of the faculty that she has mentored, all of them have received NIH funding and are continuing in research careers with R01 or equivalent-level of funding.