University of Michigan Research Team

Project Director



Lloyd D. Johnston, Ph.D.

Telephone: 734-763-5043  
Email: lloydj@umich.edu

Lloyd Johnston is the Angus Campbell Collegiate Research Professor and University Distinguished Research Scientist at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research, and principal investigator of the Monitoring the Future study since its inception in 1975 and of the Youth, Education, and Society study since its inception in 1997. He has served as advisor to the White House, Congress, and many government agencies and other universities, as well as for the World Health Organization, United Nations, Pan American Health Organization, Council of Europe, and twelve foreign countries. Johnston has conducted research on the social epidemiology of the use of tobacco, alcohol, and various illicit drugs; risk and protective behaviors for the spread of HIV/AIDS; and on adolescent obesity, including the role of schools in affecting diet, exercise, and obesity.  His interests include international comparative studies and the application of survey research to social problems generally. He is the author of some 88 books and monographs and nearly 200 journal articles and chapters. He received the national Pacesetter Award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse, the first Senior Research Scientist Lectureship Award from the University of Michigan, as well as its Distinguished Research Scientist Award and the Regents’ Distinguished Public Service Award. In 2011 he received the Lifetime Achievement Award from Communities Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA). A social psychologist by training, Johnston earned his BA in economics at Williams College, MBA in organizational behavior at Harvard University, and an MA and PhD in social psychology at the University of Michigan.


Co-Principal Investigator


Patrick M. O’Malley, Ph.D.

Telephone: 734-763-5043  
Email: pomalley@umich.edu 

Patrick O’Malley is a Research Professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. He received his PhD in psychology from the University of Michigan in 1975. He is co-principal investigator on the Monitoring the Future study, which has been conducting research for more than 35 years on substance use and related attitudes and beliefs, using national samples of secondary school students, college students and young adults. He is also co-principal investigator on the Youth, Education, and Society study, which conducts research on the influence of contextual factors (with an emphasis on school factors) on health behaviors and attitudes (including physical activity, diet, and substance use) among secondary school students. He has served on four National Academy of Sciences committees and has been a member or chairman of several National Institutes of Health review committees.


Key Investigators



Philippa Clarke, Ph.D.

Telephone: 734-647-9611
Email: pjclarke@umich.edu

Philippa Clarke is an Associate Research Professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR). She received her PhD in epidemiology/social science and health from the University of Toronto in 2000 and joined ISR in 2005 as co-investigator on the Youth, Education, and Society project. Her research interests include social epidemiology, life course perspectives, and population health. She is primarily interested in the social determinants of health at both the micro and macro levels of social reality as well as at the intersection of these levels. Her recent work examines the social determinants of BMI trajectories over the adult life course (published in the International Journal of Epidemiology with accompanying commentary from the WHO Collaborating Centre for Obesity Prevention), and their consequences for health and socioeconomic position in later adulthood (published in the American Journal of Epidemiology). She also conducts research on the reciprocal relationship between mental and physical health through adulthood, as well as the relative effects of schools versus neighborhoods on adolescent cigarette smoking.

Natalie Colabianchi, Ph.D.

Email:colabian@umich.edu

Natalie Colabianchi is an Assistant Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research. She has been the principal investigator of two NIH grants and two Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Active Living Research grants and is a co-investigator on four grants including the Youth, Education, and Society study. All of these grants focus on physical activity, nutrition, obesity and/or the built environment. She earned a Best Contribution Award from Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and also received an Early Investigator Award from the International Society of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity. She is the chair for the Environmental and Contextual Factors in Health and Behavior Change section for the Society of Behavioral Medicine. She has served as a grant reviewer for the Wellcome Trust, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and National Institutes of Health. A social epidemiologist by training, Colabianchi earned a MA in the Social Sciences from the University of Chicago and a PhD in Epidemiology at Case Western Reserve University. 

Revathy Kumar, Ph.D.

Telephone: 734-647-5761
Email: revathy@umich.edu 

Revathy Kumar is an Associate Professor at the University of Toledo and an adjunct assistant research scientist at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. She earned a PhD in education and psychology from the University of Michigan. Her first line of research focuses on the social and cultural processes involved in the construction of a sense of self and identity among adolescents in culturally diverse societies. Of particular interest are the roles of teacher education programs, schools, communities, and families in facilitating immigrant adolescents’ development and learning. Her second line of research examines the effects of individual and contextual factors on youth problem behaviors.

John E. Schulenberg, Ph.D.

Telephone: 734-763-5043  
Email: schulenb@umich.edu 

John Schulenberg is a Research Professor at the University of Michigan's Institute for Social Research and Center for Human Growth and Development, Professor of developmental psychology in the Department of Psychology, co-principal investigator on the Monitoring the Future study and co-investigator on the Youth, Education, and Society study. He received his PhD in human development and family studies from Penn State University in 1987 and has been associated with the Monitoring the Future project since 1991. He has published widely on several topics concerning adolescent development and the transition to young adulthood. His recent research focuses on the etiology and prevention of alcohol and other drug use, on the link between developmental transitions and health and well-being, and on the conceptualization and analysis of developmental change.


Key Staff



Jonathon S. Brenner

Telephone: 734-647-9143  
Email: jsbrenne@umich.edu 

Jonathon S. Brenner is a research associate at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR). He has over 15 years of experience with survey research projects at the University of Michigan, including his work with the Monitoring the Future study and the Youth, Education, and Society study. He received his BA in English from U-M, and an MDiv from Princeton Theological Seminary. He has experience in all aspects of survey research but has specialized in SAS programming, documentation, and data management; he has also taught SAS programming classes at ISR. His work has focused on school policies regarding student substance abuse as well as school policies and other environmental conditions related to student diet, exercise, and obesity.

Marcy Breslow

Telephone: 734-647-1501  
Email: mbreslow@umich.edu

Marcy Breslow is a senior research associate in the Youth and Social Issues Program (YSI) at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research (ISR). She holds an MPH from the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health and has extensive experience in data collection for social and epidemiologic studies. She is the data collection manager for the Monitoring the Future study within the YSI program and assists in coordinating YES data collection activities with those of the MTF project.

Adam Burke

Telephone: 734-647-1101  
Email: aburke@umich.edu

Adam Burke is a senior research associate at the Youth and Social Issues (YSI) program at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.  He holds a BA in Psychology from the University of Michigan and an MA in Psychology with a research emphasis from Northcentral University.  He currently serves as the data processing manager for the Monitoring the Future study, and has worked in a data-related capacity for the YSI program for over 15 years.  In addition, he provides data management and analysis consultation to the National Kidney Foundation of Michigan pertaining to their outcome-driven programs and initiatives. In his role of data processing manager, he assists in coordinating YES data processing activities with those of the overall MTF project.  

Amanda Donovan

Telephone: 734-647-2750  
Email: arbigham@umich.edu

Amanda Donovan joined the Youth and Social Issues program two years ago.  Amanda manages the YSI social media accounts, maintains the webpages for both Monitoring the Future and Youth Education and Society, and also assists with financials and pre-/post-award activities. She received her BA from Michigan State University in 2008.

Peter Freedman-Doan

Telephone: 734-763-5043  
Email: pdoan@umich.edu 

Peter Freedman-Doan is a research associate at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. He did graduate work in political science at the University of Michigan before joining the Monitoring the Future study (MTF) and subsequently the Youth, Education, and Society study. He collaborated on two books utilizing MTF panel data concerning the impact of changing life circumstances and education on substance use in young adulthood. He has provided data analyses and/or co-authored scholarly articles and papers on youth attitudes and military service, obesity among young people, the impact of part-time work on substance use, and self-esteem and racial identity. He serves as a data analyst for the obesity-related research generated by the Youth, Education, and Society project.

John Haeussler

Telephone: 734-647-1403  
Email: john.haeussler@umich.edu 

John Haeussler is the sampling statistician for the Youth and Social Issues (YSI) program at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. He received his BS in statistics and MA in applied statistics from U-M. His responsibilities include sample design, sampling frame development, sample selection and maintenance, and analysis weight development for multiple studies. He has handled sampling-related activities on YSI’s Monitoring the Future study since 1990 and has conducted sampling work on the Youth, Education and Society study since its inception in 1997.

Vida Juska

Telephone: 734-936-9527  
Email: vjuska@umich.edu 

Vida Juska is a research associate at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research and has worked on the Youth, Education, and Society project since 1998. She completed her bachelor’s degree at Oakland University, and later pursued a master’s in reading. She is engaged in recruiting schools, arranging questionnaire administrations, researching project-related information, fielding incoming calls from the schools, and assisting with other survey data collection tasks.

Deborah Kloska

Telephone: 734-936-9488  
Email: ddkloska@umich.edu 

Deborah Kloska is a data analyst at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. She received her bachelor’s in 1986 in statistics and psychology and a master’s in applied statistics in 2001, both from the University of Michigan. Her analytical interests focus on maintaining up-to-date knowledge of statistical methods and procedures, especially as related to longitudinal data analysis and complex survey design analysis. Her Bridging the Gap work focuses on maintaining the large databases and extensive codebooks for analyzing the Monitoring the Future data combined with health policy data pertaining to tobacco, marijuana, alcohol, and issues related to obesity. She conducts many analyses for BTG colleagues at the University of Illinois.

Virginia Laetz

Telephone: 734-936-9488  
Email: vblaetz@umich.edu 

Virginia Laetz is a research associate at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research and manages the field data collection operations for the Youth, Education, and Society study. She also provides data management and analysis support. She received her BS from the University of Michigan, and an MS in organizational development from Eastern Michigan University. She has been conducting survey research for over 20 years on substance use prevention projects, obesity, and other research efforts.

Patricia Meyer

Telephone: 734-647-1083  
Email: patmey@umich.edu 

Patricia Meyer has been the administrative assistant for the Youth and Social Issues program at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research since 2001. She provides administrative, financial, and general support for both the Youth, Education, and Society study and Monitoring the Future.

Nicholas Prieur

Email: nprieur@umich.edu

Nicholas Prieur is a Research Process Manager at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. He serves as the overall Program Administrator for the Youth and Social Issues Program, which houses both the Youth, Education and Society and Monitoring the Future studies. In his role he provides overall management of pre/post award research activities, financials, HR, and other program needs. He received his BS from Michigan State University in 2002, and has worked at the Institute for Social Research for nearly 10 years.

Yvonne M. Terry-McElrath

Telephone: 734-647-9142
Email: yterry@umich.edu 

Yvonne Terry-McElrath is a research associate at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. She received her MSA from the University of Notre Dame in 1999. Her research and publication experience has focused on adolescent obesity, school nutrition and exercise policy, trends and correlates of tobacco and illicit drug use in adolescent populations, anti-tobacco and drug use media campaigns, drug policy, international development, drug treatment provision within juvenile justice populations, the drug-crime cycle, and HIV/AIDS prevention services among high-risk groups. She has published over 50 articles, chapters, books, and monographs in these fields, as well as making frequent presentations at scientific meetings.


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Contact Information:

University of Michigan
Institute for Social Research
P.O. Box 1248
Ann Arbor, MI 48106-1248

Telephone: (734) 647-9294

Facsimile: (734) 936-9323