Who we are

Dr. Smith is Director of Substance Use Research & Evaluation (SURE), the MOSS Center and is a Senior Research Associate at the University of Southern Maine Catherine E. Cutler Institute, where she is responsible for designing and implementing health services research and evaluation projects related to addressing substance use disorder. Most of her research and evaluation work has focused on macro-level issues and has been designed to help systems reduce illness burden as well as healthcare utilization and costs. She has extensive research and clinical expertise in the area of substance use and behavioral health disorders which has been the primary focus of her research agenda for over 25 years. 

Dr. Smith specializes in mixed-methods research, the use of quantitative data from surveys, clinical information and administrative data in combination with qualitative data from focus groups, interviews and document review. She has experience designing and implementing evaluation, research, as well as technical assistance projects at the local, state, and federal levels and has worked on projects funded by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, National Institute of Health, National Institute of Mental Health, Veterans Administration, Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Human Resources & Services Administration, Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the National Institute of Justice.  Dr. Smith holds a Masters (2004) and Doctorate (2009) in Social Work from the University of Pittsburgh. She also received additional clinical experience and health research training during her Post-Doctoral Fellowships at the VA Pittsburgh Mental Illness Research Education and Clinical Center (MIRECC) and the Center for Health Equity Research and Promotion (CHERP).

Jennah is the lead for the MOSS Center’s Outreach and Communications core at the Catherine Cutler Institute. She has over 20 years of work experience in public health, primarily in sexual health and substance prevention. In the last 10 years, her work has focused on understanding community needs, program development, community outreach and engagement, coalition development and capacity building in youth mattering and substance prevention. She has worked in various capacities at the community, county, and state levels in Florida and Maine and has successfully worked cross sectors with the ultimate goal of supporting the well-being of youth, families, and communities. Jennah has a passion for prevention, enjoys connecting with others, problem solving and strongly believes working collaboratively is key. As full-time staff at the Center, her primary role is to connect with communities across Maine, understand where they are and support their technical assistance needs. Additionally, she will facilitate collaboration and increase communications regarding Maine Settlement Funds.  

MacKenzie David is the Community Research and Evaluation Coordinator for the MOSS Center at the Catherine Cutler Institute. MacKenzie comes to the Center with varied experience in urban and rural settings. She has spent time working in homeless outreach, community integration, substance use harm reduction, and overdose prevention. As full-time Center staff, her work is to support Maine communities’ capacity through providing evidenced based technical assistance. MacKenzie’s interest in collaborating to understand unique needs and circumstances will enable communities to identify and implement substance use related programming that has impact.  

Rachel Gallo is a Research Associate at the Catherine Cutler Institute and is the lead of the MOSS Center’s Community Engagement Core. In her work at USM, she leads or participates in the evaluations of projects which focus on improving healthcare delivery, as well as health and social outcomes. Ms. Gallo’s work primarily focuses on the utilization of quantitative data to support evaluation, research, and continuous quality improvement efforts at local, state, and federal levels. She has extensive experience working on projects that involve multiple partners. She is a founding member of the Cutler Institute's Data Innovation Project, which works with community organizations to enhance their ability to integrate data-informed decisions into their workflows through technical assistance and workshop facilitation. With a strong interest in public health on the local level, Ms. Gallo serves as the Co-Chair of the Portland Health Equity Alignment’s Monitoring, Evaluation, and Grants Committee and is a member of the Cumberland County Public Health Council. With a background in Epidemiology, Ms.Gallo’s professional interests lie within the intersections of data collection and analysis; program evaluation; data visualizations; and the utilization of data to make policy and programmatic decisions.

Katie Rosingana is a Research Associate at the Catherine Cutler Institute and leads the Monitoring and Evaluation Core for the Maine Opioid Settlement Support (MOSS) Center. In her role at the Insitute she designs, conducts, and participates in mixed-methods research and evaluation projects for community, state, and national partners. She serves as principal investigator and/or project director for multi-year, multi-level projects and leads qualitative research teams within the Cutler Institute. 

Ms. Rosingana’s work currently focuses on interventions at the patient, provider, and systems-level for substance use disorder treatment, health outcomes for Medicaid beneficiaries, health systems change, rural health care, and patient-centered care. Her dedication to mixed methods research, especially methodological qualitative data collection, ensures that the experience of all people within a health system, program, or intervention are heard.

Mr. Egeland is a Research Analyst at the Catherine Cutler Institute with 5 years of experience conducting mixed-methods research and evaluation projects. He earned a B.A. in Anthropology and Environmental Studies in 2019 from Eckerd College with a focus on social science research, cultural studies, and equity.

Mr. Egeland’s current professional work focuses on substance use disorder treatment and recovery services and related public health interventions across the continuum of care to include community members, patients, providers, and admin-level staff. His experience developing and employing data collection tools helps to describe the factors influencing SUD treatment access and maintenance, and his dedication to health literacy leverages best-practices in data visualization to effectively communicate findings to a variety of audiences.

For the Maine Opioid Settlement Support Center (MOSS), Mr. Egeland assists in the fulfillment of technical assistance requests, tracking of center activities, and cataloging of publicly available resources to support recipient subdivisions in their efforts to improve the health of Maine communities.

Sarah is a Research Analyst at the Catherine Cutler Institute who contributes to mixed-methods research and evaluation projects for local, state, and federal partners. Her role within the SURE team is to assist in data collection, analysis, and the development of survey and interview summary reports that assist organizational partners with improving their programs. Sarah also provides technical assistance for partners as a part of the Maine Opioid Settlement Support Center (MOSS), as they explore evidence-based strategies to address substance use disorder in their communities. She is interested in understanding the intersection between community partner goals, the factors that influence their ability to provide high quality services to target populations in the community, and using data driven decision-making to inform potential program or policy solutions to ultimately improve the overall health and well-being of communities. 

Gordie is a Research Analyst at the Catherine Cutler Institute who contributes to mixed-methods research and data analysis for regional and government community partners who work to increase access and quality of healthcare for rural communities and persons with mental health and substance use disorder. Mr. McIntire’s primary focus is assisting the Substance Use and Evaluation (SURE) team in data collection, organization, and analysis, specifically concerning processing quantitative data into clear and accurate reports. His experience cleaning, analyzing, and reporting on data empowers partner organizations and communities to make data-driven decisions and enact positive outcomes. 

Gordie also provides technical support to the Maine Opioid Settlement Support (MOSS) Center, specifically drawing on his experience with data visualization software to analyze activity associated with the Center.