Our Team

Sion Kim Harris, PhD, MSN, RN, PMHNP-BC, CPH, is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School, a Nurse Practitioner in the Boston Children’s Hospital Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and Co-Director of the Center for Adolescent Behavioral Health Research (CABHRe). Previously, she served as Director of the Center for Adolescent Substance use and Addiction Research (CeASAR), founded in 1999 by Dr. John Rogers Knight, MD.

She has conducted pioneering research in adolescent substance use screening and brief intervention strategies for use in medical offices, including validating the CRAFFT screen (now updated to version 2.1, available at www.crafft.org) which has become the most widely studied and recommended screening tool for problematic adolescent substance use. She published the first large, multi-site international trial of primary care screening and clinician brief advice for adolescent alcohol and drug use. She has conducted research in partnership with investigators worldwide including in Zambia, the Czech Republic, Spain, and Brazil.

Dr. Harris has published over 80 original scientific publications, and has received numerous awards, including the Young Professional Award from the Maternal and Child Health Section of the American Public Health Association, the John Nelson Chappel Best Research Award from the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse, and the Estherann Grace Teaching Award and T. Berry Brazelton Innovation Award from the Boston Children’s Hospital Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, and Division of Developmental Medicine, respectively. She received her doctorate from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.​

Research Profiles: BCH | Harvard Catalyst | ORCID | ResearchGate | Google Scholar

Selected Publications:

• Harris SK, Csemy L, Sherritt L, Starostova O, Van Hook, Johnson J, Boulter S, Brooks T, Carey P, Kossack R, Kulig JW, Van Vranken N, Knight JR. Computer-facilitated substance use screening and brief advice for teens in primary care: an international trial. Pediatrics. 2012 Jun;129(6):1072-82.
• Harris SK, Knight JR, Van Hook S, Sherritt L, Brooks T, Kulig JW, Nordt C, Saitz R. Adolescent substance use screening in primary care: Validity of computer self-administered versus clinician-administered screening. Substance Abuse. 2016 Jan-Mar;37(1):197-203. PMCID: 4573375
• Harris SK, Johnson JK, Sherritt L, Copelas S, Rappo MA, Wilson CR. Putting adolescents at risk: riding with drinking drivers who are adults in the home. Journal of Studies on Alcohol and Drugs. 2017 Jan;78(1):146-151.
• Knight, JR, Kuzubova K, Csemy L, Sherritt L, Copelas S, Harris SK. Computer-facilitated screening and brief advice to reduce adolescents’ heavy episodic drinking: a study in two countries. Journal of Adolescent Health. 2018 Jan;62(1):118-120. doi: 10.1016/j.jadohealth.2017.08.013. PMID: 29054734
• Knight JR, Sherritt L, Gibson EB, Levinson J, Grubb LK, Samuels RC, Silva T, Vernacchio L, Wornham W, Harris SK. Effect of computer-based substance use screening and brief behavioral counseling vs. usual care for adolescents in pediatric primary care: a pilot randomized clinical trial. JAMA Network Open. 2019 Jun 5;2(6):e196258. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2019.6258.

Dr. Lydia Shrier’s research focuses on the links between mental health and risk behavior in adolescents and young adults. Dr. Shrier has been funded by the National Institutes of Health and other sources to conduct research using momentary assessment methods with mobile devices to study emotional states, social contexts, and health behaviors in vivo. Based on this work, Dr. Shrier and her collaborators have developed interventions to reduce risk behaviors that combine counseling with mobile momentary intervention, including MOMENT to reduce cannabis use in adolescents and young adults who use frequently, and MARSSI to reduce risk of pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection among young women with depression.

Dr. Shrier and her collaborators also created the Safer Sex Intervention (SSI), a theory-based individualized intervention to reduce sexual risk behaviors in high-risk adolescent girls. The Safer Sex Intervention is included in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Compendium of Evidence-Based HIV Prevention Interventions and the Department of Health and Human Services Teen Pregnancy Prevention Evidence Review. Multiple sites across the U.S. have conducted SSI replications. An independent randomized controlled trial in three replication sites (>1800 adolescent girls) found long-term positive effects of SSI.

Dr. Shrier has collaborated with several leading researchers to advance screening, intervention, and clinician education related to adolescent substance use. She collaborated with Dr. John Knight on the development of the widely-used CRAFFT screen for problem substance use in adolescents. With Dr. Sharon Levy, Dr. Shrier co-developed the S2BIscreen for adolescent substance use. Dr. Shrier is co-investigator with Dr. Sion Harris on two NIH funded studies, a randomized controlled trial of the computer-facilitated Screening and clinician Brief Intervention system for primary care, and a project to integrate the computerized Screening and provider Brief Advice system for adolescent substance use and the CHADIS online clinical process support system for pediatric primary care.

Lydia Shrier received an MD with Distinction in Research from Albany Medical School. She completed internship and residency in Pediatrics at Yale-New Haven Hospital and a fellowship in Adolescent Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital. She received an MPH from Harvard School of Public Health. Dr. Shrier has been recognized for her scholarly work, leadership, mentorship, and excellence in clinical care through numerous awards and honors and is a Fellow of the Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine. She serves as Chair of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Study Section CHHD-M Health, Behavior and Context Subcommittee. Dr. Shrier is Director of Research for the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine at Boston Children’s Hospital.

Research Profiles: BCH | Harvard Catalyst | ORCID | ResearchGate | Google Scholar

Selected Publications:

• Shrier LA, Burke PJ, Parker S, Edwards R, Jonestrask C, Pluhar E, Harris SK. Development and pilot testing of a counseling-plus-mHealth intervention to reduce risk for pregnancy and sexually transmitted infection in young women with depression. mHealth;6:17. Online 2020 Apr 5. doi:10.21037/mhealth.2019.11.05.
• Shrier LA, Burke PJ, Kells M, Scherer EA, Sarda V, Jonestrask CJ, Xuan Z, Harris SK. Pilot randomized trial of MOMENT, a motivational counseling-plus-Ecological Momentary Intervention to reduce marijuana use in youth. mHealth. 2018;4(7). doi: 10.21037/mhealth.2018.07.04
• Shrier LA, Ross CS, Blood EA. Momentary positive and negative affect preceding marijuana use events in youth. J Stud Alcohol Drugs. 2014;75:781-9. doi: 10.15288/jsad.2014.75.781.
• Shrier LA, Feldman HA, Black SK, Walls C, Kendall AD, Lops C, Beardslee WR. Momentary affective states surrounding sexual intercourse in depressed adolescents and young adults. Arch Sex Behav. 2012;41:1161-1171. Epub 2011; doi: 10.1007/s10508-011-9787-4.
• Shrier LA, Ancheta R, Goodman E, Chiou VM, Lyden MR, Emans SJ. Randomized controlled trial of a safer sex intervention for high-risk adolescent girls. Arch Pediatr Adolesc Med. 2001;155:73-79. doi: 10.1001/archpedi.155.1.73.

Shivani Mathur Gaiha is a Scientist in the Division of Adolescent/Young Adult Medicine, Department of Pediatrics at the Boston Children’s Hospital. Prior to this role, Dr. Gaiha was an Instructor and completed her postdoctoral training at the Stanford University School of Medicine. She has a Ph.D. in Public Health from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. Dr. Gaiha has received the K99/R00 Pathway to Independence Award in Tobacco Regulatory Science from the National Cancer Institute/National Institutes of Health.

Dr. Gaiha applies both quantitative and qualitative research to develop and evaluate public health programs and inform policies, that may ultimately contribute to healthy behaviors among adolescents. With the goal of addressing tobacco-related risks and disease, her current research focuses on 3 key areas:

• Assessing social and behavioral risk factors associated with tobacco-related disease
• Evaluating prevention programs among adolescent and young adult populations
• Understanding and countering the appeal of e-cigarette-related marketing

Recently, Dr. Gaiha has collaborated with leading investigators to generate evidence about adolescent e-cigarette use patterns and sources of acquiring these products. She is interested in identifying appealing and influential characteristics of e-cigarette marketing in the retail environment, online, and on social media so as to address these influences through counter-marketing.

For transformative contributions to adolescent health research, she received the Career Development Award in Adolescent Health (Society for Adolescent Health and Medicine), Queens Young Leader Runner-Up Award (The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust with Comic Relief and the University of Cambridge), Travel Award (Society for Research on Nicotine & Tobacco), and Outstanding Paper Award (Emerald Literati Network for Excellence).

Dr. Gaiha also has global health experience, designing and evaluating the first arts-based educational program to reduce mental-health-related stigma among college-going youth in India (funded with support from the Wellcome Trust Program). Previously, as a Research Associate in health communication at the Public Health Foundation of India and in partnership with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India and community-based organizations, she led three large educational interventions: a community awareness campaign, which improved treatment-seeking behavior for mental disorders in underserved areas; a website targeting young people to improve their lifestyle; and entertainment-education-based participatory action research to improve sexual and reproductive health.

In addition to research, Dr. Gaiha enjoys teaching research methods and mentoring residents, fellows, postdoctoral trainees and students.

Research Profiles: BCH | Harvard Catalyst | ORCID | ResearchGate | Google Scholar

Selected Publications:

• Gaiha SM, Lin C, Lempert LK, Halpern-Felsher B. Use, marketing, and appeal of oral nicotine products among adolescents, young adults, and adults. Addict Behav. 2023;140:107632. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2023.107632
• Gaiha SM, Lempert LK, McKelvey K, Halpern-Felsher B. E-cigarette devices, brands, and flavors attract youth: Informing FDA’s policies and priorities to close critical gaps. Addict Behav. 2022;126:107179. doi:10.1016/j.addbeh.2021.107179
• Gaiha SM, Rao P, Halpern-Felsher B. Sociodemographic Factors Associated with Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Susceptibility, Use, and Intended Future Use of Different E-Cigarette Devices. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022;19(4):1941. Published 2022 Feb 9. doi:10.3390/ijerph19041941
• Gaiha SM, Henriksen L, Halpern-Felsher B, et al. Sources of flavoured e-cigarettes among California youth and young adults: associations with local flavoured tobacco sales restrictions. Tob Control. 2022;31(5):659-662. doi:10.1136/tobaccocontrol-2020-056455
• Gaiha SM, Lempert LK, Halpern-Felsher B. Underage Youth and Young Adult e-Cigarette Use and Access Before and During the Coronavirus Disease 2019 Pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020;3(12):e2027572. Published 2020 Dec 1. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.27572