CHHSR Staff

Staff Biographies

Kimberly Gentry Sperber, Ph.D., Director (Sperber CV)
Dr. Sperber received her Ph.D. in Criminal Justice from the University of Cincinnati in 2003 and has worked in the field for more than 20 years. In her role, Dr. Sperber oversees research in the areas of addiction, mental health, corrections and implementation science. She also assists Talbert House to implement, monitor and respond to Continuous Quality Improvement metrics that assess the agency’s performance in terms of process, outcomes and treatment fidelity. Her most recent research has focused on:

• appropriate applications of risk-based treatment dosage for criminal justice clients
• identifying and addressing barriers to Medication Assisted Treatment and opioid overdose prevention in community-based programs
• identifying barriers to engagement in co-parenting services for non-residential fathers and their co-parenting partners.

Aaron Vissman, Ph.D., MPH, Associate Director (Vissman CV)

Dr. Vissman joined Talbert House in 2016 after completing his Ph.D. in Behavioral Sciences and Health Education at Emory University. He has extramurally funded research experience investigating public health disparities and multi-level intervention outcomes. He directs ongoing research and serves as grant writer and investigator for interdisciplinary health research projects. Recent projects focus on health education, HIV/AIDS, viral hepatitis, naloxone distribution and mortality in justice-involved populations. He directs the Public Health—Prevention and Policy—Internship Program and serves as a member of the Executive Committee on Continuous Quality Improvement at Talbert House. He teaches classes and workshops available for open registration via the ITD website including: Implementation of PEER-OPS –standardized opioid overdose prevention programs for community correctional facilities;  HIV/HCV Policy and Advocacy; and Survey Research Methods.

Alexander Burton, MS., Senior Research Associate (Burton CV)

Alexander L. Burton, MS, is a PhD Candidate in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. His research interests can be categorized into two main areas: correctional effectiveness and public opinion on corrections and criminal justice policy. Alexander's corrections research has largely focused on correctional officer training. For example, in 2018 he undertook a national survey of state departments of corrections to assess a variety of issues around pre-service training for correctional officers (e.g., length of training, training content). His current work in the area is focused on using pre/post training surveys to assess the effects of training on a variety of topics, such as self-efficacy and attitudes toward individuals serving time in carceral institutions. 

Cherie Carter, M.S., Research Assistant

Cherie joined Talbert House as a research intern in 2018. Prior to joining Talbert House, Cherie worked at U.S.'s Corrections Institute and U.C.'s Institute for Crime Science. She has a background in teaching and training, and has experience with Core Correctional Practices, Motivational Interviewing, Trauma Informed Care, EPICS, Thinking for a Change, Continuous Quality Improvement, and Cognative Behavioral Interventions for Substance Abuse. Currently, she is managing a State Opioid Response data collection project and assists with data collection and data analysis for CHHSR. Cherie is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati.

Jee Yearn Kim, M.S., Ph.D Graduate Research Assistant (Kim CV)

Jee Yearn Kim is a doctoral student in the School of Criminal Justice at the University of Cincinnati. Her research interests center on psychology of criminal conduct, principles of effective intervention, correctional rehabilitation and has been published on violence against women and related issues. Jee Yearn assists with literature reviews and data analysis for several projects at the CHHSR She currently is working on her dissertation and a project "Depression Screening (PHQ-9) and Symptom Distress Outcomes Among Community Based Mental Health Clients" at Talbert House.

CHHSR Advisory Council

Jaimee Heffner, Ph.D., Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Kristina Moster, Ph.D., Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center
Faye Taxman, Ph.D., George Mason University
Melissa Van Dyke, LCSW, University of Strathclyde
Nancy Wolff, Ph.D., Rutgers University
April Young, Ph.D., MPH, University of Kentucky College of Public Health