Stitzer, Maxine L., Ph.D.

Professor Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit Main Office Address Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit (BPRU) G Building, Room 3040 Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Campus Phone: 410-550-0042 Fax: 410-550-0030 Off Campus Address Mason F. Lord, Room 569A Johns Hopkins Bayview Medical Campus Phone:410-550-5044 Fax: 410-550-8149 E-mail: mstitzer@jhmi.edu

Education

Professional Interests

My grant-supported research has focused on both pharmacological and behavioral approaches to the treatment of substance abuse.  Early human laboratory and clinical trials research focused on methadone maintenance and buprenorphine treatment, while more recent work has included participation in cocaine vaccine research.  In addition, with BPRU colleagues, I pioneered the use of contingency management in the treatment of drug abuse and this has been an on-going area of research interest.  I was the lead investigator on a large multi-site study conducted within the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network that showed effectiveness of contingent abstinence incentives for stimulant abusers.  Currently, work with contingency management is branching out into other areas of application including health care and criminal justice settings.  Research in the tobacco dependence arena has focused on use of short-term cessation and relapse models to better understand variables that influence relapse, testing of new treatment approaches including a nicotine vaccine, and smoking cessation in special populations. Recent work is branching out into regulatory science to determine how novel tobacco products including reduced nicotine cigarettes impact smoking and quitting behavior. 

Selected Publications

Carter, L.P., Stitzer, M.L., Henningfield, J.E., O’Connor, R.J., Cummings, K.M., Hatsukami, D.K. (2009).  Abuse liability assessment of tobacco products including potential reduced exposure products.  Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers and Prevention, 18, 3241-62. PMCID: PMC2798587

Stitzer, M.L., Petry, N.M., & Peirce, J. (2010).  Motivational incentives research in the National Drug Abuse Treatment Clinical Trials Network.  Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 38, S61-9.  PMCID: PMC2866424

Stitzer, M.L., Polk, T., Bowles, S., & Kosten, T. (2010).  Drug users’ adherence to a 6-month vaccination protocol: Effects of motivational incentives.  Drug and Alcohol Dependence, 107, 76-9. PMCID: PMC2815120

Vandrey, R., Stitzer, M.L., Acquavita, S.P., Quinn-Stable, P. (2011). Pay-for-performance in a community substance abuse clinic. Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, 41, 193-200.  PMCID: PMC3144289

Hser, Y.l., Li, J., Jiang, H., Zhang, R., Du, J., Zhang, C., Zhang, B., Evans, E., Wu, F., Chang, Y.J., Peng, C., Huang, D., Stitzer, M.L., Roll, J., Zhao, M. (2011).  Effects of a randomized contingency management intervention on opiate abstinence and retention in methadone maintenance treatment in China. Addiction, 106, 1801-9. PMCID: PMC3174353

Sheffer, C.E., Stitzer, M., Landes, R., Brackman, S.L., Munn, T., & Moore, P. (2012).

Socioeconomic disparities in community-based treatment of tobacco dependence. American Journal of Public Health, 102, e8-16.