BBCSS Staff

Barbara A. Wanchisen, Ph.D., Director, 202-334-2394
Sujeeta Bhatt, Ph.D., Senior Program Officer, 202-334-1652
Adrienne Stith Butler, Program Officer, 202-334-1574
Julie Schuck, Program Officer, 202-334-3379
Tina Winters, Associate Program Officer, 202-334-3808
Liz Townsend, Research Associate, 202-334-1527
Janet Joiner, Program Coordinator, 202-334-1522
Hannah During, Senior Program Assistant, 202-334-1511
Renée L. Wilson, Senior Program Assistant, 202-334-2145

STAFF Biographies (alphabetical)

	Sujeeta Bhatt, Ph.D. Senior Program Officer Sujeeta Bhatt is a Senior Program Officer with BBCSS, primarily focused on directing the study How People Learn II: Science and Practice of Learning. She is formerly Research Scientist at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) and was detailed to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, High-Value Detainee Interrogation Group (HIG). Previously, she was an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiology at the Georgetown University Medical Center on detail to DIA/HIG. Her work at DIA and the HIG has focused on the psychological and neuroscience bases for credibility assessment, biometrics, insider threat, intelligence interviewing methods and the development of research to practice modules on interrogation-related topics. She received a Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience from American University in 2004, where her work focused on the integrity of the corpus callosum in individuals following mild traumatic brain injury. In addition to receiving an Intelligence Community Postdoctoral Fellowship grant (2005-2007), Dr. Bhatt received an American Psychological Association Science Fellowship in 2005. Her work in deception detection has led to invitations to speak on behalf of the American Psychological Association Coalition for the National Science Foundation Funding, Security Evaluation Workshops sponsored by the National Science Foundation and the Office of Science & Technology Policy, an Intelligence Community Academic Summit, and she was featured on the Pentagon Channel’s “Armed with Science” and on WTOP’s Federal News Radio. In addition, Dr. Bhatt’s work has led to a number of published abstracts and papers.

	Hannah During Senior Program Assistant Hannah During is a Senior Program Assistant with BBCSS, working on the new study on Social and Behavioral Sciences for National Security: A Decadal Survey. Hannah received her Master’s in clinical mental health counseling from George Washington University in May 2016. While obtaining her degree, she worked full time with the then-IOM Board on Health Care Services, where she gained experience in meeting planning. Hannah also served as a graduate clinician with the Wendt Center for Loss and Healing, providing evidence- based psychotherapy to individuals and groups who have experienced grief, loss and trauma.

	Janet Joiner Program Coordinator Janet Joiner is the program coordinator for the Board on Human Systems-Integration and the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. Janet previously worked at PRM Consulting Group and the World Wildlife Fund, both in Washington, DC. She has experience in meeting planning and financial support, as well as providing administrative support on document preparation, travel arrangements and briefing materials. Her educational background is in business administration.

	Julie Anne Schuck Program Officer Julie Anne Schuck is a program officer with the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences, currently supporting the Decadal Survey of Social and Behavioral Sciences for National Security. She has worked in the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) for over 14 years. She has provided analytical, administrative, and editorial support for a number of studies and workshops and contributed technical writings for many reports. Her projects have covered a number of areas, including law and justice issues, STEM education, the science of human-system integration, as well as the evaluations of federal research programs. Recent reports include The Growth of Incarceration in the United States; Reforming Juvenile Justice; Health and Incarceration; Understanding the U.S. Illicit Tobacco Market; Strengthening the National Institute of Justice; and Support for Forensic Science Research. She has an M.S. in education from Cornell University and a B.S. in engineering physics from the University of California, San Diego.

	Adrienne Stith Butler Senior Program Officer Adrienne Stith Butler is a senior program officer and will be directing a new project aimed at developing pilot media campaign materials based on a recommendation in the recent BBCSS report, Ending Discrimination Among People with Mental and Substance Use Disorders. She previously worked for the Health and Medicine Division where she served as the study director for several IOM reports including Dying in America: Improving Quality and Honoring Individual Preferences Near the End of Life; Psychosocial Interventions for Mental and Substance Use Disorders: A Framework for Establishing Evidence-Based Standards; and Relieving Pain in America: A Blueprint for Transforming Prevention, Care, Education, and Research. She also served as the staff officer for IOM reports pertaining to the nursing workforce, regenerative medicine, family planning, preterm birth, psychological consequences of terrorism, diversity in the health care workforce, and racial and ethnic disparities in health care. Prior to her work at the Academies, she was the James Marshall Public Policy Scholar, a fellowship sponsored by the American Psychological Association and the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. In that role, she used psychological research to analyze legislation and develop legislative strategy. Adrienne is a clinical psychologist and received a doctorate in 1997 from the University of Vermont. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in adolescent medicine and pediatric psychology at the University of Rochester Medical Center in Rochester, New York.

	Liz Townsend Research Associate Liz Townsend is a Research Associate with the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. She is currently supporting the Decadal Survey on Social and Behavioral Sciences for National Security. Prior to returning to The National Academies, Liz was the Coordinator for Maine CDC’s Youth Suicide Prevention Program, Building Caring Connections in Maine. Previously at The National Academies, she worked with the Board on Children, Youth, and Families on numerous studies, including Ethical Considerations for Research on Housing-Related Health Hazards Involving Children, Children’s Health, the Nation’s Wealth: Assessing and Improving Child Health, and Working Families and Growing Kids: Caring for Children and Adolescents. She earned a Master of Public Health degree from the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB), where she interned for UAB’s Comprehensive Cancer Center and volunteered with the Alabama Vaccine Research Clinic and 1917 Clinic. She received her B.S. degree from Radford University.

	Barbara A. Wanchisen, Ph.D. Director, Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences Barbara A. Wanchisen, Ph.D., serves as the Director of the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences at the National Research Council in Washington, D.C. She is responsible for oversight and development of new projects and activities under the board, primarily working with representatives from the federal government and relevant foundations. Wanchisen received a B.A. in English and Philosophy from Bloomsburg University in Pennsylvania, an M.A. in English from Villanova University, and her doctorate in Experimental Psychology from Temple University. She is a long-standing member of the Psychonomic Society, the Association for Behavior Analysis - International, and the American Psychological Association, where she is a Fellow of Division 25 (Behavior Analysis). She has served on the editorial boards of the Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior and The Behavior Analyst while also serving as a guest reviewer of a number of other journals. From November 2001 until April 2008, Wanchisen was the executive director of a non-profit advocacy organization called the Federation of Behavioral, Psychological, & Cognitive Sciences in Washington, DC, and, during that tenure, she was instrumental in the founding of the Federation's Foundation for the Advancement of Behavioral and Brain Sciences, which assumed the educational mission of the Federation. Previously, Wanchisen was Professor in the Department of Psychology and Director of the college-wide Honors Program at Baldwin-Wallace University, Cleveland, Ohio, USA.

	Renée L. Wilson Gaines Senior Program Assistant Renée L. Wilson is a senior project assistant under the Board on Behavioral, Cognitive, and Sensory Sciences. Prior to joining The National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in 2009, she provided administrative, technology, and electronic resource management for both non and for profit organizations including Grace D. Cox, Esq., The Center for Social Welfare Policy and Law (now The National Center for Law and Economic Justice), The George Washington University Center for Excellence in Public Leadership, the American Geophysical Union, and The Points of Light Foundation & Volunteer Center Network. While at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, she has supported the following projects: How People Learn II, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Measuring Human Capabilities, The Context of Military Environments, Mine Safety: Essential Components of Self-Escape, Sociocultural Data to Accomplish Department of Defense Missions, The Role of Human Factors in Home Health Care, Field Evaluation in the Intelligence and Counterintelligence Context, and A Database for a Changing Economy: Review of the Occupational Information Network (O*NET). She received a B.A. from Howard University in 1983.

	Tina Winters Associate Program Officer Tina Winters has returned to the Academies to work with the Committee on the External Evaluation of NIDRR and Its Grantees. Prior to rejoining the Academies, she worked on an initiative to spread innovative health care practices and with the coordinating center for a medical registry on islet cell transplantation. In her previous tenure at the Academies, she worked with the Committee on Social Science Evidence for Use and has supported numerous studies, including Scientific Research in Education, Knowing What Students Know: The Science and Design of Educational Assessment, and the National Science Education Standards.