Dr. Mike Shaw is the VA Advanced Addiction Treatment Fellow splitting his time between UW-CTRI and the William S. Middleton Memorial Veterans Hospital and Clinics (VA).
At the Madison VA, Shaw will spend some time in clinic helping veterans address their behavioral health. At UW-CTRI, he’ll conduct secondary analysis of UW-CTRI study data collected by UW-CTRI Director of Veterans Research Dr. Jess Cook’s team. Her studies focus on helping Vets address their tobacco use.
“I’m excited to be here because of the caliber of the research work and the willingness to give back to patients with addictions,” Shaw said.
His past research focused on the use of low-level electric stimulation of the pre-frontal cortex (transcranial direct current stimulation or “tDCS”), which can improve cognitive functioning and the ability to resist emotional impulses and cravings. Early research has shown that this form of brain stimulation can help patients control impulses that have deleterious effects on their wallet, health and relationships.
He hopes to one day have the funding to conduct research on how brain stimulation can help people with tobacco addictions, and then bring that research out to clinics and health systems to help people quit tobacco use.
Shaw completed his PhD in clinical psychology at Binghamton University and recently completed his clinical internship at Salem VA.
Michael Shaw, PhD