1991-1995 University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina, Bachelor of Arts in Psychology
Research: Acquisition of Behavioral Tolerance to Cocaine, Morphine, and /-Methadone in Rats
Advisors: Linda Dykstra, Christine Hughes
1995 University of Sussex, Falmer, United Kingdom, Department of Biology, Behavioral Pharmacology Laboratory
Research: Effects of d'Fenfluramine on Morphone- and Food- Conditioned Place Preference in Rats
Advisor: Peter G. Clifton
1996-1999 University of Vermont, Burlington, Vermont, Master of Arts in Experimental Psychology - Behavioral Pharmacology
Masters Thesis: Contingent Reinforcement of Marijuana Abstinence among Individuals with Schizophrenia
Advisor: Stephen T. Higgins
2002-2004 NIDA Postdoctoral Fellow, Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland
Advisors: George Bigelow, Roland Griffiths, Maxine Stitzer
1999-2002 University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, Doctoral in Experimental Psychology - Behavioral Pharmacology
Dissertation: Effects of Psychomotor Stimulants on the Reinforcing Effects of Cigarette Smoking and Money
2004-2008 Research Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont
2004-present Adjunct Assistant Professor, Department of Psychiatry, Dartmouth School of Medicine
April-August 2004 Associate Director, The Chittenden Center: Methadone Maintenance Program
August 2004-present Director, The Chittenden Center: Methadone Maintenance Program
2004-present Faculty Member, Graduate College, University of Vermont
2005-present Research Assistant Professor (secondary appointment), Department of Psychology, University of Vermont
2007-present Faculty Member, UVM Neuroscience Graduate Program, University of Vermont
2008-present Research Associate Professor, Department of Psychiatry, University of Vermont
R01DA019989 (07/01/06-03/31/10)
Agency: NIH/NIDA
Effective Treatment for Prescription Opioid Abuse
The overarching goal of this proposal is to develop a manualized, efficacious treatment for prescription opioid abuse. Despite the alarming recent increase in prescription opioid abuse, we know of no published studies evaluating treatments for this emerging population. Two experimental studies are proposed to programmatically evaluate a combined behavioral-pharmacological treatment for prescription opioid abuse. The platform behavioral treatment delivered to patients in both studies is the Community Reinforcement Approach (CRA), an efficacious therapy for promoting healthy lifestyle changes in licit and illicit drug abusers. The pharmacological treatments will be a buprenorphine detoxification followed by a regimen of naltrexone therapy. Development of efficacious treatments will help to reduce the vast economic and societal costs associated with prescription opioid abuse.
Role: Principal Investigator
R01DA019550 (06/01/07-05/31/12)
Agency: NIH/NIDA
Incentive-based smoking cessation for methadone patients
The aim of this project is to programmatically develop and test the efficacy of a voucher-based smoking cessation intervention in methadone-maintained cigarette smokers. The intervention will use intensive monitoring via breath carbon monoxide and urinary cotinine, voucher-based contingency management, and bupropion to promote smoking abstinence in this challenging population. This project will culminate in an effective behavioral intervention for reducing cigarette smoking among methadone-maintained patients, a population in whom prevalence of cigarette smoking is three-fold that of the general population.
Role: Principal Investigator
R03DA027480 (09/01/09-08/31/11)
Agency: NIH/NIDA
Individual differences in drug reinforcement as a function of DRD2 allele Individuals vary widely in their response to drugs and these differences may be associated with their vulnerability for substance abuse. In the proposed study, we will prospectively examine whether an individual's receptor genotype may predict their sensitivity to drug reinforcement.
Knowledge gained from this study may benefit public health by advancing our understanding of individual differences in vulnerability to the reinforcing effects of drugs and improving our efforts to understand, prevent and treat drug abuse more generally.
Role: Principal Investigator
T32DA07242 (09/30/90-06/30/10)
(Higgins, Stephen, T., P.I.)
Agency: NIH/NIDA
Training in Behavioral Pharmacology of Human Drug Dependence
The purpose of this grant is to train behavioral pharmacologists to empirically examine behavioral and pharmacological factors contributing to drug use, the consequences of drug use, and how that basic understanding translates to novel treatments for drug dependence.
Role: Co-Investigator
2002-2004 NIDA Post-doctoral Training Fellowship
2003 Recipient of the National Institutes of Health Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program
2003 College on Problem of Drug Dependence, Early Career Investigator Award
2005-present Invited reviewer for the National Institutes of Health, Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program
2006 Recipient of the Wyeth Young Psychopharmacologist Award, Division 28, American Psychological Association
2007 Elected Member-at-large, Division 28, American Psychological Association
To view Dr. Sigmon's publications, please visit PubMed