The UAMS Addiction Research Training Program is overseen by Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D., Program Director, and Dr. Jure Baloh and Dr. Mollee Steely Smith, Co-Associate Directors, along with the program’s steering committee and governance committee. The mentoring faculty represents four distinct academic homes and government biomedical research sites.
Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D.
Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D., is a tenured associate professor in the UAMS Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and a clinical psychologist by training. She directs UAMS’ Health and the Legal System (HEALS) Laboratory, a diverse group of scholars and clinical trainees focused on the intersections among addiction, traumatic stress, and criminal legal system involvement and the implementation and effectiveness of interventions to address associated needs. She has been PI or Co-I on seven grants that focus on incarcerated or justice-involved people, including federally funded grants from four NIH institutes (NIDA, NICHD, NIMHD, NCATS), PCORI, and a private foundation.
She was named co-associate director of the training program in 2023, advanced to co-director in 2024, and most recently assumed her current role as program director in July 2026. Dr. Zielinski is proud to have had the unique experience of serving in all T32 program roles. She participated first as a postdoctoral trainee (2016-18), then as a member of the training faculty network (2018-present), and now as a member of program leadership. She was named a co-associate director for the training program in 2023 and transitioned to her current role as co-director of the program in 2024.
Dr. Zielinski directly attributes her academic successes to the robust research and career mentoring that she has received, and training the next generation of impactful addiction scientists is a career passion. Notably, Zielinski was the inaugural recipient of UAMS’ Women Faculty Mentoring Excellence Award in 2022. In 2020, she was a UAMS Phenomenal Women award nominee based on a mentee’s letter of recommendation.
Originally from New Jersey, Dr. Zielinski completed her undergraduate education at The College of New Jersey, during which time she also served as an Emergency Medical Technician for several years. She moved to Arkansas to complete her doctoral training in Clinical Psychology at the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, in 2011.
In her free time, Dr. Zielinski enjoys spending time with her husband, two sons, and two rescue dogs. She also tries to take advantage of the natural beauty of Arkansas’ outdoors and of the many local coffee shops and restaurants that Little Rock has to offer.
Jure Baloh, Ph.D.
Jure Baloh is an Associate Professor in the Department of Health Policy and Management at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences (UAMS). He serves as Director of the Health Systems and Services Research (HSSR) PhD Program, and Associate Co-Director of the NIDA T32 Translational Training in Addiction program.
His research integrates implementation science, organizational science, and quality improvement to examine how health service organizations adopt, implement, and sustain evidence-based practices and other innovations. His work focuses on the organizational structures, processes, and strategies that influence successful change across various healthcare settings, including addiction treatment programs, federally qualified health centers (FQHCs), pharmacies, and hospitals. His current research includes developing and testing a supervision strategy designed to strengthen organizational functioning and support the behavioral health workforce in addiction treatment settings.
Dr. Baloh teaches graduate courses in implementation science, quality of care, and quality improvement. He earned his PhD in Health Services and Policy from the University of Iowa and completed postdoctoral training in Implementation Science and Addiction through the NIDA T32 program at UAMS. He was also a scholar at the Institute for Implementation Science Scholars (IS-2) at Washington University in St. Louis. Dr. Baloh serves on the Translation & Implementation Special Interest Group of the NIDA Clinical Trials Network and is an Associate Editor for Implementation Science Communications.
Mollee Steely Smith, Ph.D.
Mollee Smith, Ph.D. is an assistant professor in UAMS’ Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and research faculty in the Health and Legal System (HEALS) Lab. A criminologist by training, Dr. Smith research focuses on perinatal mental and behavioral health, with an emphasis on women who are justice-involved and/or have substance use disorders. She is also an expert in qualitative research methods and is committed to community-engaged research that centers the voices and experiences of traditionally underserved and under resourced communities. Dr. Smith is the recipient of UAMS Translational Research Institute’s K12 Career Development Award and was selected as a 2026 recipient of the Susan A. Hickman Research Award through Postpartum Support International (PSI) in recognition for excellence in perinatal mental health research. Dr. Smith completed her postdoctoral training as a NIDA-funded T32 fellow in 2023. Having experienced firsthand the impact of the program on her own career development, she joined the leadership team as a mentor in 2025 and now serves as the Co-Associate Director. She is passionate about supporting the next generation of addiction scientists and considers it a privilege to give back to a program that helped launch her independent research career. As an Arkansas native, Dr. Smith earned her Ph.D. in Criminology and Criminal Justice from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA-Little Rock). During this time, she served as a Research Specialist in the Arkansas Department of Corrections, where she received specialized training in the University of Cincinnati’s Corrections Institutes’ Correctional Program Checklist (CPC). Her experiences working at the intersection of criminal justice, behavioral health, and implementation science continue to shape her research and mentorship philosophy. As both a former T32 fellow and current program leader, Dr. Smith is dedicated to fostering a collaborative, supportive training environment where fellows can develop the skills, confidence, and interdisciplinary partnerships needed to launch successful careers in addiction science. Outside of work, Dr. Smith enjoys spending time with her husband, daughter, and three rescue pets. She also has a not-so-budget-friendly passion for building and collecting LEGO sets, many of which are proudly displayed in her office.
Steering Committee
- Antino Allen, Ph.D., Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy, UAMS
- Pebbles Fagan, Ph.D., MPH, Department of Health Behavior and Health Education, College of Public Health, UAMS
- Stephanie Garner, Pharm.D., Ed.D., Provost, Chief Academic Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer, UAMS
- Sean Taverna, Ph.D., Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, College of Medicine, UAMS
- Bill Fantegrossi, Ph.D., Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology, College of Medicine, UAMS
- Stephanie Rose, DSW, LCSW, AADC, CS, DCC, Department of Health Sciences, University of Central Arkansas
The steering committee serves the important functions of program oversight related to trainee selection, administration, evaluation, external partnerships and program content.
Governance Committee
The UAMS Addiction Research Training Program’s Governance Committee oversees the program’s day-to-day operations, including trainee recruitment and orientation, program advertising, trainee communications, collection of progress reports, evaluation of trainees and mentors, and coordination of meetings with visiting research speakers. The committee also supports trainees in planning, implementing, and evaluating the program’s community outreach activities. The committee is chaired by Melissa Zielinski, Ph.D. (Director), and includes Mollee Steely Smith, Ph.D. (Co-Associate Director), Lauren Ruthven, LCSW (Program Manager), both from the UAMS Psychiatric Research Institute, and Jure Baloh, Ph.D. (Co-Associate Director) from the UAMS College of Public Health.