Dr. Walton is a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Michigan. Her research interests include prevention and treatment of alcohol and drug problems in community settings, including brief adapted motivational interventions and adjunct therapies (e.g. violence and relapse prevention) in substance use treatment. Her publications focus on traditionally understudied populations, such as women, African-Americans, and adolescents, and the relationships among multiple risk behaviors such as alcohol, illicit drugs, and violence. She is the principal investigator on a brief intervention study to reduce alcohol misuse and violent behaviors among adolescents (funded by NIAAA), “Tailored Teen Alcohol and Violence Prevention in the ER”. She is a co-investigator on a prevention study (funded by NIDA), “Tailored Teen Marijuana Prevention in Indigent Primary Care” and on health service projects (funded by NIAAA and NIDA), “Services Interventions for Problem Drinkers and Substance Abusers in the ER”. Dr. Walton and colleagues recently completed studies examining brief interventions for alcohol misuse in the ER, integrated violence prevention therapy for patients in substance use treatment, and longitudinal outcomes for cocaine users with chest pain in the ER. Dr. Walton has a Ph.D. in Ecological and Community Psychology from Michigan State University and a M.P.H. in Heath Promotion from San Diego State University.
