Michael McDonell, PhD

• Washington State University, Pullman, WA, PhD, Clinical Psychology
• Washington State University, Pullman, WA, MS, Psychology
• Gonzaga University, Spokane, WA, BA, Psychology & Sociology

Residency and Postgraduate Training

• Predoctoral Psychology Internship, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Texas – Houston School of Medicine, Houston, TX
• Postdoctoral Fellowship in Child Psychopathology, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA

• 2015 Awardee, Competitive Renewal, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program
• 2012 Awardee, National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Alcoholism and Alcohol Abuse, Clinical Research Loan Repayment Program
• 2002 Thomas S. Foley Graduate Fellow in Public Policy, The Foley Institute, Washington State University
• 1995 Marguerite Casey Scholarship, Gonzaga University

McDonell MG, Short RA, Berry CM, Dyck DG. Burden in schizophrenia caregivers: Impact of family psychoeducation and awareness of patient suicidality. Fam Process. 2003;42:91-103.

McDonell MG, Short RA, Hazel NA, Berry CM, & Dyck DG. Multiple-family group treatment of outpatients with schizophrenia: Impact on service utilization. Fam Process. 2006;45:359-373.

McDonell MG, Comtois KA, Voss WD, Morgan AH, Ries RK. Global Appraisal of Individual Needs Short Screener (GSS): Psychometric properties and performance as a screening measure in adolescents. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2009;35:157-160.

McDonell MG, Tarantino J, Dubois AP, Matestic P, Steinmetz K, Galbreath H, McClellan JM. A pilot evaluation of dialectical behavioural therapy in adolescent long-term inpatient care. Child Adolesc Ment Health,2010;15:193-196.

McDonell MG, Angelo F, Sugar A, Rainey C, Srebnik D, Short R, Roll J, Ries RK. A pilot study of the accuracy of onsite immunoassay urinalysis of illicit drug use in seriously mentally ill outpatients. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2011:37(2):137-40.

McDonell MG, Howell DN, McPherson S, Cameron JM, Srebnik D, Roll JM, Ries RK. Voucher-based reinforcement for alcohol abstinence using the ethyl-glucuronide alcohol biomarker. J Appl Behav Anal. 2012;45:161-165.

McDonell MG, Srebnik D, Angelo F, McPherson S, Lowe JM, Sugar A, Short RA, Roll JM, Ries RK. A randomized controlled trial of contingency management for psycho-stimulant use in community mental health outpatients with co-occurring serious mental illness. Am J Psychiatry.2013;170:94-101.

Hilt RJ, Romaire MA, McDonell MG, Sears JM, Krupski A, Thompson JN, Myers J, Trupin EW. The pediatric access line: Evaluating a child psychiatry consultation program in Washington State. JAMA Pediatrics. 2013;167:162-168.

Srebnik D, Sugar A, Coblentz P, McDonell MG, Angelo F, Lowe JM, Ries RK. & Roll JM. Acceptability of contingency management among clinicians and clients within a co-occurring mental health and substance use treatment program. Am J Addict. 2013;22(5) 432-436.

McDonell MG, McPherson S, Vilardaga R, Srebnik D, Angelo FN, Leickly E, Saxon A, Roll J, Ries R. Preliminary findings: Contingency management targeting psycho-stimulant use results in secondary decreases in smoking for severely mentally ill adults. Am J Addict. 2014;23:407-410.

Roth W, Vilardaga R, Wolfe N, Bricker J, McDonell MG. Practical considerations in the design and development of smartphone apps for behavior change. J Contextual Behav Sci. 2014;3(4):269-272.

Lowe JM, McDonell MG, Leickly E, Angelo FA, Vilardaga R, McPherson S, Srebnik D, Roll J, Ries RK. Determining ethyl glucuronide cutoffs when detecting self-reported alcohol use in addiction treatment patients. Alcohol Clinical Exp Res. 2015;39:905-910.

Leickly E, McDonell MG, Vilardaga R, Angelo FA, Lowe JA, McPherson S, Srebnik D, Roll J, Ries RK. High levels of agreement between clinic-based ethyl glucuronide immunoassays and laboratory-based mass spectrometry. Am J Drug Alcohol Abuse. 2015;41:246-250.

Murphy SM, McDonell MG, McPherson S, Srebnik D, Angelo F, Roll JM, Ries RK. An economic evaluation of a contingency-management intervention for stimulant use among community mental health patients with serious mental illness. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015;153:293-298.

McDonell MG, Leickly E, Skalisky J, McPherson S, Srebnik D, Roll J, Ries RK. Using ethyl glucuronide in urine to detect light and heavy drinking in alcohol dependent outpatients. Drug Alcohol Depend. 2015;157;184-187.

Dr. McDonell is a Professor at the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine. He became a founding faculty member of the Elson S. Floyd College of Medicine in 2015. He is also the Director of the Promoting Research Initiatives in Substance Use and Mental Health (PRISM) Collaborative, and the Co-Director of the Rural Center for Opioid Prevention, Treatment and Recovery, as well as a leader of the Center for Cannabis Policy, Research and Outreach.

Dr. McDonell has an extensive background in developing and testing the effectiveness of treatments for co-occurring substance use disorders and mental illness. He also partners with American Indian and Alaska Native communities to develop, test, and implement new treatment approaches for addictions. Many of his studies utilize novel alcohol biomarkers, such as ethyl glucuronide, a biomarker of recent alcohol use. The majority of his work focuses on the use of contingency management to improve addiction treatment. Dr. McDonell is passionate about partnering with communities to conduct research that improves the lives community members, as well as mentoring graduate students, staff, and faculty who identify as members of groups under-represented in science.

Professional Memberships

• American Psychological Association
• International Early Psychosis Association
• Research Society on Alcoholism
• International Society of Biomedical Research on Alcoholism