• Senior Scientist at the Treatment Research Institute (TRI)
• Adjunct Associate Professor of Psychology in Psychiatry

Dr. Cacciola is a leading substance abuse researcher with recognized expertise in diagnostic and psychosocial assessment, treatment outcomes, and co-occurring psychiatric disorders. Dr. Cacciola has been extensively involved in the ongoing development of the Addiction Severity Index (ASI) and the Treatment Services Review (TSR). He has co-authored more than 90 articles in scientific journals and was an advisor to the DSM-IV Substance Use Disorders Workgroup. Currently, a primary research area involves developing and testing innovative, efficient and adaptive approaches to substance abuse treatment.
 

• Jay H. Waggoner Chair, Professor of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
• Director, Division of Alcohol and Addictive Disorders
• Mental Health Care Line Executive at Houston VA

In addition to his duties at Baylor, Dr. Kosten is research director of VA QUERI, the National Substance Use Disorders Quality Enhancement
Research Initiative.  Dr. Kosten has enjoyed an extraordinary career in substance abuse research and treatment in both the public and private sectors. Prior to assuming his current positions, Dr. Korsten was Professor at Yale University School of Medicine, and Chief of Psychiatry at VA Connecticut Healthcare System. Dr Kosten is founder of the Division of Substance Abuse at Baylor and Yale, directing their NIH Medications Development Center for substance abuse.

Dr. Kosten has been supported by a Research Scientist Award from the National Institutes of Health since 1987, and has served on national and international review groups for medications development in substance abuse. He has been a Congressional Fellow in the US House of Representatives and a visiting Professor in Germany, Spain, Greece, China, and Canada. Dr Kosten is the founding Vice Chair for Added Qualifications in Addiction Psychiatry of the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and a Distinguished Fellow in the American Psychiatric Association and Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

Dr. Kosten is Past President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry, and Past President of the College on Problems of Drug Dependence. Dr Kosten has also earned several major awards for clinical research, is editor of two major journals in substance abuse, and has been on the American Journal of Psychiatry board. His recent work includes serving on the National Academy of Sciences, Institute of Medicine committee on vaccines for substance abuse.

From his studies in substance dependence, post-traumatic stress disorder, and neuroimaging, Dr Kosten’s has published over 500 papers, books, and reviews. His neuroimaging research includes detecting and treating cocaine-induced cerebral perfusion defects, and using functional MRI to predict pharmacotherapy outcome. Dr Kosten’s medication contributions include vaccines for cocaine, opiates and methamphetamine, buprenorphine for opioid dependence, disulfiram for cocaine dependence, and combining medications with contingency management for opioid and cocaine dependence.