Project Staff

Cathy L. Melvin, PhD, MPH (Principal Investigator) is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of Child Health Services Research at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research and a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Maternal and Child Health at the School of Public Health at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She serves as Principal Investigator and director of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation-funded Smoke-Free Families National Dissemination Office and as faculty director of the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center Dissemination Core. Dr. Melvin’s research interests include dissemination and dissemination research, translation of research into practice, health systems change, and the application of quality improvement approaches to systems change.

Timothy S. Carey, MD, MPH (Co-Principal Investigator) is Director of the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research, a Sarah Graham Kenan Professor in Medicine, a Professor of Social Medicine, and an Adjunct Clinical Professor of Epidemiology. He is affiliated with multiple training programs, including the NIH funded Clinical Research Curriculum, the Primary Care Research Fellowship, and the Faculty Development Program in General Internal Medicine. Dr. Carey has served as the Chief of the Division of General Internal Medicine and Clinical Epidemiology at UNC. He is a Board Member of the North Carolina Institute of Medicine. His recent awards include the John Eisenberg Award for Excellence in Mentorship given by Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality in 2003 and the American College of Physicians Laureate Award in 2004. Also, he has been listed as one of America’s Top Doctors since 2001 by Castle Connolly Medical.

Dr. Carey is the Co-Investigator and Science Panel Co-chair for “Disseminating The Evidence-Based Drug Review: Anti-Epileptic Drugs for Mood Disorders Project”. His responsibilities are to ensure the scientific integrity of the project, assure adherence to the study design, assist in the development and dissemination of derivative products, and ensure compliance with Institutional Review Board requirements.

Leah M. Ranney, PhD, MA, (Project Director) is a Research Fellow at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina. She received her PhD in Community Psychology at North Carolina State University in 2000, and her MA in Experimental Psychology from San Diego State University in 1994. She is the Project Director for “Disseminating The Evidence-Based Drug Review: Anti-Epileptic Drugs for Mood Disorders”. She is responsible for managing all aspects of the project including the subcontracts with RTI for audience research and Leap Design for product development. She also oversees the program evaluation, database data entry, and corresponds with the Attorneys General, and Science and Dissemination Panel members on project details and progress.

Erin McClain, MA, MPH (Research Associate) is a Research Associate at the Cecil G. Sheps Center for Health Services Research at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She has project management and research experience in tobacco control and maternal and child health, as well as extensive training and experience in international conflict resolution and humanitarian assistance. For the Anti-Epileptic Drugs Project, she assists with the development of the dissemination materials, including the website and continuing medical education module.