Clinical Studies Unit

The Clinical Studies Unit (CSU) was established in 1996 to support those investigators involved in clinical trials research in the department. The Director of the CSU, Dr. Eric Devine, is a clinical psychologist who has also been engaged in clinical trials research for over 25 years, specializing in alcohol and other substance use research. The CSU facilities, located within the Psychiatry Research Center, Crosstown Building, are designed specifically to support clinical trials research and features dedicated office space, two clinical exam rooms with a biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) laboratory and a double-locked room for storage of confidential research data.

Director:

Eric, Devine, PhD

Eric Devine, PhD, is the director of the Clinical Studies Unit in the Department of Psychiatry at Boston Medical Center. Dr. Devine serves as Vice-Chair for the Boston Medical Center and Boston University Medical Campus Institutional Review Board, and he is the Director of the IRB Internship training program. He teaches addiction treatment courses for the Mental Health Counseling and Behavioral Medicine Program at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine. Dr. Devine is a member of the Motivational Interviewing Network of Trainers (MINT). He has participated in numerous NIAAA and NIDA-funded multi-site trials testing medications for the treatment of substance use disorders and has had a role in two SAMHSA-funded grants focused on training and dissemination of SBIRT. Dr. Devine also had a role in the development of psychosocial treatments for addiction and has co-authored several treatment manuals and online behavioral platforms for use in multi-site trials testing medications for substance use disorders.

Special Interests: Medication development, clinical trials, psychosocial treatments for substance use disorder, motivational interviewing, cognitive behavioral therapy, universal screening for substance use, ethics of human subjects’ research, and manualized treatment approaches for substance use disorders.

The Psychiatry Research Opportunities for Volunteer Enrollment (PROVEn) registry, please visit the Psychiatry Research Center homepage for more information.

For more information about any of our clinical research studies, please contact the Psychiatry Research Center at (617) 414-1990.