The Center for the Study of Violence Against Children (CSVAC)

Biographical Sketches

James Clark, Ph.D., L.C.S.W. , is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the University of Kentucky’s College of Social Work and the College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry, as well as a Principal Investigator for the CATS project and Co-Principal Investigator for the UK Bioterrorism and Behavioral Health Project Dr. Clark is also a faculty affiliate at the Multidisciplinary Center on Drug and Alcohol Research and the Center for Research on Violence Against Women and an expert in forensic mental health issues.

Ginny Sprang, Ph.D., L.C.S.W. , is an Associate Professor with a joint appointment in the University of Kentucky’s College of Social Work and the College of Medicine, Department of Psychiatry at the University of Kentucky. She is a Principal Investigator for the UK Behavioral Health Disaster Response Project and the Comprehensive Assessment and Training Services (CATS) Project. Dr. Sprang has authored the book “The Many Faces of Bereavement: The Nature and Treatment of Natural, Traumatic and Stigmatized Grief”, as well as numerous articles on trauma, bereavement and victimization of adults and children.

Andrew Scott LaJoie, PhD, MSPH. Dr. Scott LaJoie is an assistant professor in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavioral Sciences in the School of Public Health and Information Sciences at the University of Louisville. He received his doctorate in cognitive p vsychology and a master's degree in decision science / biostatistics from the University of Louisville and completed a post-doc in biostatistics. His research interests include decision making, quality of life elicitation, and risk communication. Dr LaJoie's role on this project is to examine ways in which public health agencies can conduct interventions to limit the consequences of a pandemic on families and children. In addition, he will be involved with the analysis of quantitative and qualitative information collected during the project.

Miriam Silman, LCSW, is a Research Associate with the Center and an Adjunct Faculty member in the College of Social Work. She has worked in the field of interpersonal violence as a clinician for most of the last 24 years, including work at Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, the UK Department of Outpatient Psychiatry and the CATS project.