Lisa Callahan , Ph.D.

Lisa Callahan Ph.D.


Position: Policy Research Staff
Mappings of Focus:Competence to Stand Trial
Competence to Stand Trial

Lisa Callahan is a Senior Research Associate at Policy Research Associates, Inc., where she is involved in research, technical assistance, and training. Dr. Callahan works on many Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA)-funded tasks at the GAINS Center for Behavioral Health and Justice Transformation, leading numerous Communities of Practice, including the 2020 Medication-Assisted Treatment (MAT) Across the Sequential Intercept Model (SIM) that offered an Opioid-focused SIM as one type of technical assistance. She coordinates technical assistance for the many SAMHSA grant programs focused on treatment courts. She recently led a SAMHSA/Bureau of Justice Assistance Expert Panel on MAT in the Justice System, Best Practices for Psychiatrists Working with Justice Involved People in Community Care, Assisted Outpatient Commitment, and Competence to Stand Trial. She co-authored a recent publication on barriers to implementing MAT across the SIM.

Dr. Callahan was the Project Director for the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation’s Mental Health Court studies, which resulted in numerous publications. Her expertise on treatment courts is frequently sought in presenting at many statewide and national conferences. Dr. Callahan provides training to justice professionals and first responders on trauma-informed practices, including the relationship between the opioid crisis and vicarious trauma. She has numerous publications on topics central to her research and experience. She is Professor Emerita from The Sage Colleges where for 18 years she taught courses in juvenile and criminal justice, mental health, and research methods and established the M.S. in Forensic Mental Health Program, one of the first in the country. She received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University in 1983 and completed a National Institute of Mental Health post-doctoral program at the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s Medical School.