Designed for the public and the professionals who serve them, our courses and related products utilize recent advances in the social and behavioral sciences in order to improve both public health and quality of life.

Educational and training products are uniquely targeted to:
  • Deaf High School Students and their Teachers
  • Service Providers for the Deaf
  • HIV/AIDS Treatment Staff
  • Behaviorial Health Treatment and Care Coordination Staff
  • Drug Court Staff
  • Police, Fire, Emergency Service Workers
  • Outreach Workers

SSIC INNOVATIONS STAFFAFFILIATIONS ARE LISTED BELOW EACH MEMBER

Roberta Berry, MFA
Senior Research Assistant

Ms. Berry received her MFA at the University of Virginia, has a Professional Certificate ASL/English Interpretation and is a candidate for The Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf (RID) National Interpreter Certification Exam. Ms. Berry participates on the translation team for Deaf Projects and utilizes her skills to assist in the ASL translation and video production on our projects. Ms. Berry has served as the ASL interpreter for focus groups and has transcribed videotaped ASL in-depth interviews.

SUBSTANCE USE, HIV/AIDS, MENTAL HEALTH, AND DEAF

Patrice Joyner-Creamer,
MA, MSW, Project Director

Mrs Joyner-Creamer received her Masters of Social Work at Hunter College School of Social Work. She is Deaf and has extensive experience providing case management and mental health services to individuals who are Deaf. Ms. Joyner-Creamer has been Project Director for several NIH funded research including a NIDA funded SBIR contract to adapt its Science of Addiction curriculum for use with Deaf high school students. She participated in all aspects of ASL translation work, she has facilitated focus groups and in-depth interviews, and has acted as a sign model on screen on several computerized ASL surveys that measure HIV knowledge, substance use, and mental health.

SUBSTANCE USE, HIV/AIDS, MENTAL HEALTH, AND DEAF

Elizabeth Eckhardt, LCSW, PhD.
Principal Investigator

Dr. Eckhardt received her PhD from New York University School of Social Work where her dissertation analyzed in-depth interviews with deaf adults conducted in ASL to study the ways that Deaf culture influences HIV-related health behaviors. She has many years of clinical experience with Deaf individuals and has developed comprehensive county wide service programs for Deaf individuals and their families. Her research has included the development and implementation of surveys in ASL to study substance use, tobacco use, mental health, and HIV. She is currently working to develop an HIV Curriculum for use with Deaf High School Students and A Depression Screener in ASL.

SUBSTANCE USE, HIV/AIDS, MENTAL HEALTH, AND DEAF

Hilary James Liberty, PhD.
Director, Social Sciences Innovations Corp.

Dr. Liberty is a licensed psychologist specializing in measurement of drug use by various means and the statistical evaluation of social programs. He received his PhD from the City University of New York. He has been a principal investigator on a variety of projects including sweat testing for recent use of drugs of abuse, and evaluation of treatment models for homeless, substance abusing men. He has been a trainer for 25 years, and is currently managing the creation of this online school.

HIV/AIDS and SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Joseph Lunievicz, BA
Director, SSIC Training Institute

Mr. Lunievicz is also Director of the Training Institute at NDRI. He has over 20 years experience in training both practitioners and trainers, developing curriculum, developing curriculum based interventions, dissemination of research findings, and project management specializing in the public health fields of substance abuse and HIV/AIDS. Mr. Lunievicz is also co-investigator on a number of NIDA funded projects to develop computer assisted training on subjects such as: The New York State HIV Confidentiality Law, Methamphetamine Treatment for Drug Court Practitioners, Hepatitis C Knowledge and Communication Skills for Drug Treatment Workers, Traumatic Brain Injury and Substance Abuse, and Methadone Maintenance Treatment Practitioner Knowledge and Values.

HIV/AIDS and SUBSTANCE ABUSE

Janie Simmons, EdD
Principal Investigator

Dr. Simmons received her doctorate from the Harvard Graduate School of Education in 1994. Her dissertation explored the ways in which Puerto Rican and African American youth and adults made sense of AIDS in one of Boston's poorest communities at the beginning of the epidemic. Dr. Simmons has worked as an ethnographer in the area of HIV/AIDS and drug use since completing her dissertation. Her online course development work on buprenorphine and overdose is derived from her experience in these fields. Dr. Simmons has published on barriers to drug treatment, drug-using couples, and women, poverty and AIDs. She is co-editor (with Drs. Paul Farmer and Margaret Connors) of Women, Poverty and AIDS: Sex, Drugs and Structural Violence (1996; 2011) which received the Eileen Basker Memorial Prize for outstanding scholarship in gender and health from the Society for Medical Anthropology, American Anthropological Association.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE