Faculty Profile

Biography

Paige Alitz, Ph.D. is a behavioral health professional with over 10 years of experience in public health, epidemiology, child and family studies, data analysis, and mental health and substance abuse prevention. Dr. Alitz’s field work began in global health, traveling to Nicaragua and Haiti with volunteer teams to provide medical and pharmaceutical services as well as public health infrastructure like clean water and nutrition education to youth. After returning to the U.S. and completing her Master of Public Health program, Dr. Alitz served as a research consultant with a Florida home visiting evaluation team examining the effects of stress and burnout among home visitors, and the experiences of immigrant families served by home visiting programs. During her subsequent doctoral program, Dr. Alitz’s research focused on the outcomes of two different types of drug courts in Hillsborough County, FL, and whether mobile crisis response teams could reduce the criminalization of mental health crises in Florida. Dr. Alitz is currently a Project Officer with the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) in the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention. She oversees the programmatic requirements for Florida grant recipients funded by SAMHSA’s programs in HIV prevention and harm reduction, and the first responders – comprehensive addiction and recovery act.