Melissa S. Abadi, PhD, Health Communication
Associate Research Scientist
Louisville Center
Louisville, Kentucky

Phone: 502-238-7335
Fax: 502-634-5690
Email: mabadi@pire.org


Dr. Melissa Abadi is an Associate Research Scientist at the PIRE-Louisville Center. She received her Ph.D. in Health Communication from the University of Kentucky in 2006 with cognate areas in psychology and statistics. Abadi’ areas of expertise are in health message development and testing; development and evaluation of school-based and community-based substance use interventions; evaluation of treatment programs; cultural and evidence-based adaptation of programs and interventions; and gender-specific programming and interventions. Dr. Abadi has worked on multiple substance use prevention and treatment projects, both nationally and internationally. Currently, she is an investigator on projects focusing on: a) reducing teen prescription drug abuse through environmental strategies that target risk and protective factors; b) identifying message characteristics likely to be successful in changing health behaviors of individuals at all levels and combinations of sensation seeking and impulsivity; c) evaluating the implementation of the therapeutic community approach in detention centers in Brazil; d) evaluating residential treatment programs in Afghanistan; and e) assessing the unique characteristics, contextual factors, and psychosocial factors of drug-addicted women in war-torn countries and in international juvenile detention centers.