Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion

Profile

Gabriela Khazanov, PhD is a licensed clinical psychologist, a Research Psychologist in the Center of Excellence for Substance Addiction Treatment and Education (CESATE) at the Philadelphia VA, and a Research Associate in the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine. The goal of her research is to enhance patient and provider access to and engagement in evidence-based interventions for problematic substance use and to prevent suicide. She is particularly interested in the role of financial and social incentives, behavioral economic strategies, community engagement, and structural interventions to increase access to and engagement in prevention and treatment. Much of her research focuses on lethal means safety counseling and secure storage of firearms to prevent suicide, as well as contingency management for individuals with substance use. In addition to her research, Dr. Khazanov leads the VA’s national implementation of contingency management. In this role, she coaches clinicians and leads national initiatives to support implementation of incentive-based interventions to encourage abstinence from substances, medication adherence, and treatment attendance among veterans with substance use disorders.