Our Team
Senior Leadership
Adam W. Carrico, PhD is a Professor and Chair in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work at Florida International University (FIU). He is a licensed clinical-health psychologist with substantial expertise in developing and testing biobehavioral interventions to optimize HIV prevention in individuals who engage in problematic patterns of stimulant use. His clinical research program focuses on boosting and extending the effectiveness of contingency management for HIV prevention with people who use stimulants. Dr. Carrico’s translational research program seeks to elucidate the neuroimmune pathways that underlie prevalent psychiatric comorbidities relevant to HIV. This includes ongoing efforts to leverage “-omics” approaches (e.g., mRNA gene expression, DNA methylation, and gut microbiome) to examine the complex pathways whereby stimulant use may amplify risk of HIV acquisition or clinical HIV progression.
Dr. Carrico’s clinical and translational research program provides an ideal platform to mentor the next generation of investigators in HIV prevention. He has successfully mentored predoctoral students, postdoctoral fellows, and junior faculty members to obtain NIH funding for their research (i.e., F31, R36, R03, and K23). To date, three of Dr. Carrico’s former trainees have transitioned to pursue independent, R01-funded research programs.
Collaborating Faculty
Leah Davis Ewart, PhD, is a Research Assistant Professor in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work at FIU. Dr. Davis Ewart is passionate about pursuing a program of research to address intersectional minority stress as a key determinant of stimulant use and HIV in sexual minority men. She oversees the implementation of several, ongoing randomized controlled trials focused on optimizing HIV prevention in sexual minority men who use stimulants.
Emily Jayne Ross, PhD, is a licensed clinical health psychologist and Research Assistant Professor at Florida International University. Dr. Ross oversees the clinical delivery and supervision of evidence-based interventions across several ongoing randomized controlled trials, including motivational interviewing, cognitive-behavioral therapy, and positive psychology interventions. Her research examines psychosocial and behavioral factors that influence health and quality-of-life outcomes among individuals with chronic health conditions, with a particular focus on gastrointestinal disorders. Her work focuses on the roles of psychological well-being, stress, resilience, and substance use in gastrointestinal health.
José F. Colón Burgos, DrPH began collaborating closely with the iCARUS team during his postdoctoral fellowship at the Center for Research on HIV and Drug Abuse in LatinX Communities Living in the United States (CRUSADA) at the Robert Stempel School of Public Health and Social Work. Currently, Dr. Colón Burgos is an Assistant Professor (tenure-track) in the Department of Environmental and Global Health at the College of Public Health and Health Professionals at the University of Florida. He is leading FIESTA, a NIDA-funded pilot randomized controlled trial aimed at increasing PrEP use among Latino sexual minority men who use stimulants.
Renessa Williams, PhD, RN, is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at the University of Miami School of Nursing and Health Studies. Dr. Williams’ work focuses on understanding and mitigating intersectional stigma and the key mechanisms that contribute to poor health outcomes in persons living with HIV. Her research aims to understand the individual (e.g., depression, substance use) interpersonal (e.g., discrimination, violence) and structural (racism, heterosexism) factors that complicate health inequities among individuals with HIV, especially persons of racial/ethnic minority backgrounds (Blacks/African Americans) and/or sexual minority men. Dr. Williams’ recently funded NIH-funded Career Development Award (K23) seeks to understand the biopsychosocial barriers to HIV prevention, care, and treatment in Black sexual minority men living with HIV.
Doctoral Students
Joe Fenny Coleman is a doctoral student in Health Promotion and Disease Prevention at Florida International University. Joe’s research focuses on pharmacotherapy adherence, social determinants of health, and health outcomes research in people living with HIV and substance use disorders. Specifically, the eEectiveness of electronic adherence monitoring systems in promoting anti-retroviral therapy adherence. Joe is especially interested in leveraging evidence-based digital interventions to optimize treatment outcomes in persons living with HIV and comorbid conditions. Drawing on experience in pharmacy practice, community health and interdisciplinary public health research, his work aims to advance research that is both analytically rigorous and responsive to lived realities shaping health behaviors and outcomes
Jennifer V. Chavez, MPH, is a fourth year PhD student in the Brain, Behavior and Environment Program at FIU. Jennifer’s research interests are rooted in psychoneuroimmunology and translational science. She is interested in understanding how endogenous factors (biological vulnerability, neuroimmunometabolic pathways) and exposomic factors (environmental toxicity and other social determinants of health) interact to impact substance use and neuropsychiatric comorbidities, in people with HIV. Jennifer is also a recipient of an R36 Dissertation Award from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), which focuses on proteomic corelates of depressive symptoms in acute HIV infection with an emphasis on inflammatory and mitochondrial pathways. Jennifer is currently the Project Manager for the Treatment Research Investigating Depression Effects on Neuroimmune Targets (TRIDENT) clinical trial.
Michaela E. Larson, MPH, is a fourth year PhD student of Epidemiology at FIU. Michaela’s research focuses on understanding epigenetic mechanisms relevant to cardiometabolic comorbidities among people with HIV, and identifying biomarkers that may be leveraged to predict cardiovascular risk. Currently, Michaela serves as the Data Manager for both the iCARUS lab and Dr. Claudia Martinez (Department of Cardiology, University of Miami). Michaela’s dissertation examines mutli-omic characteristics of subclinical cardiovascular disease in people with HIV. Her research is supported by an R36 Dissertation from the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) of the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Research Staff
Chelsea Henderson, EdM, is the Administrative Director and has been with the team since 2020. She has extensive knowledge and experience working with research participants, overseeing IRBs and regulatory compliance and is currently responsible for the lab’s administrative tasks. She has overseen many clinical and neurobehavioral research projects such as the Football Players Health Study at Harvard University, which focused on the health and well-being of former NFL players and the MAPLE Study (Health Outcomes and Cognitive Effects of Marijuana Use Among Persons Living with HIV/AIDS) part of the SHARC Research Consortium at FIU/UF. Chelsea is interested in the intersection of physical and mental health on various health-related outcomes.
Eddy Cruz Blanco, B.S., is a research coordinator in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work at FIU. He is a coordinator for the TRIDENT study, which examines the intersection of HIV and depression. Eddy is driven by a commitment to addressing health disparities and advancing research for underserved and stigmatized communities. He is pursuing a career in medicine and hopes to carry this dedication to equitable care into his future practice as a physician.
Maisy Knight, MS, is a research coordinator in the Robert Stempel College of Public Health and Social Work at FIU. Maisy helps organize, recruit, and enroll for three iCARUS studies that focus on HIV and substance use disorder: MATTER, ARTEMIS, and reSTART. Maisy is passionate about health disparities and filling research gaps for communities that are underserved and stigmatized.